Drusilla  Book I
by regertz
Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice  and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...
1. Chapter 1

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my

"Romance Palace" as well... .

(I guess I should use the old Bride of Frankenstein movie promo... "WE DEFY YOU TO

READ!...DRUSILLA...and THE GROOM OF ROSENBERG...!"...anyway, Happy Halloween...)

Prologue...

Transylvania...1896...

The Inn at Borgo Pass...Run by a rather strange-looking proprietor...A small man, unusually

deformed in spots...of a weasely aspect...His very expression suggesting a duplicitous nature...A man on sight not to be trusted...

"Willie!..." the tall, dark figure in occupying the rearmost booth with a hearty Irishman of kindly aspect and wide girth...Called...In a Romanian accent...

Count...? the ever-deferential Willie hastened over...

"More of the usual for me..." the young-looking nobleman told him..."And whatever else my friend here would like..."

"Just the same..." the Irishman raised his beer glass slightly...

Willie deftly rushed the drinks over...Beer, a brandy, and a small shot glass full of a red-colored substance...

A wolf outside howled...The youthful-looking nobleman smiled as he poured the red liquid into his brandy...

Ah...

Willie standing by a moment to see that all was well for his wealthiest steady customer...Rolled his eyes slightly...

He knows the line coming by heart...Every tourist of any interest to the Count gets it...

"Children of the night..." Vladimir Dracula, last-born of the Dracule...showed his white, unnaturally sharp teeth...

What music they make...C'mon, c'mon finish it...Willie thought, sighing slightly...

"What...Music...They make..."

Indeed, sir...Bram Stoker, Irish-born novelist and traveler nodded...

Willie pasted an indulgent smile on his face...Geesh, and it's his great-granddad the Impaler's line at that, the barkeeper thought...If old Vlad ever caught this punk kid using it...

"Anything else, gentlemen?..."

Vladimir waved a hand...

"Well, Count..." Stoker beamed at him...

"A fascinating tale...I've little doubt of its marketability...If you can agree to the few minor alterations I've described..."

Hmmn...the count frowned slightly...Such a ridiculous ending for such a grand tale of passion and romance...

The fragile foolish humans defeating him...Rescuing the damsel from his clutches...

Still...One must be practical...This was a business transaction...To revive the badly depleted fortunes of the Dracule...

This Stoker clearly knew his business...And what would pull the readers in...

And he had to admit...The story recast in the Irishman's mold did have a certain strong appeal...As a Romanian nobleman he could sympathize with a gallant young husband risking life and all to save a beloved wife...

Family values and all...

And to be honest...At least to his own self...It was after all Great-granddad's story, not his...

Great-granddad Vlad...Who'd given him Immortality...Then gone and bankrupted the family with his damnable, demented efforts to win redemption...

Successful in the end to an extent perhaps...If the tales were true...but still...Ruinous...

Wonderful old man...he cursed his ancestor...

Zips off to England...Buys whatever it took to win his soul's freedom, and leaves me and the surviving others to eke out an existence with the remains...An Immortal existence to boot...

Well...He'd done what he could to keep the family afloat...In as poor a country as Romania was...No thanks to old Vlad...

Now, if the family honor must be compromised...The horrible truth of the Dracule existence revealed...And Great-grand-dad embarrassed...

Tough...One must live...Well, Unlive...

He eyed the instrument of the Dracule family's revival...Mr. Bram Stoker, Irish-born playwright and author...Whose fascinating, tragic book on the sinking of a great ocean liner by an iceberg had attracted his attention while searching for a fine, but relatively unknown...And therefore potentially disposable, if he became a nuisance...Writer to...Assist...In the work...

An artist of great sensitivity...And apparently some secret knowledge of the Underworld judging by his surprising ability in magics on their first encounter...Holding him, a Prince of the Dracule, off with an unusual protective spell...

A man of laudable courage, if somewhat foolhardy...Worthy of bringing the legend of the great and tragic Dracule to the world...

As his, Vladimir Dracule's own...

So what if old great-grandpa was pissed?...He was a redeemed soul again...Was he likely to come back and risk that to punish his wayward great-grandson?...

But...To business...And the profits that would hopefully soon ensue...

"Yes, my friend..." Vladimir sighed...

"I agree...Let the young fool Englishman have his little fool of a wife...Let me...er my ancestor...Meet my fate..."

"Nobly..." Stoker noted... "Dying with that expression of peace and release that assures our readers that even his condemned soul is at last free..."

Indeed...Vladimir nodded...

Yes...A great tragic death...For the sake of a good and virtuous woman...

Should work well with the ladies as a future opening line...he thought...When they learn that the Dark Prince still lives...

The inn door opened...A tall man entered, also dark of hair...Weary and rain-soaked from the road...

With a somewhat hunted expression...Almost, one might say...

A brooding one...

Dracula looked back...

Oh, shit...he sighed...

Angelus...

What the hell?...

Willie had rushed to welcome his new customer...

Leading him to another booth...From which Stoker and Dracula heard him apologize profusely for any slowness in service...Strictly owing to the lack of additional help...

Hard to get folks these days...Though a new girl was starting tonight...

Angelus nodded pleasantly...Looking carefully around the inn...

Oh, shit...

He nodded dutifully to Vladimir...One must show the proper respect to a Prince of the blood...Even if the fellow is an enemy of long-standing...And a stupid preening fool, living off the legend of his great ancestor...

Thought all the surviving Dracule had moved to England...he irritably noted to himself...

Still...A fellow vampire...A potential ally if the Slayer should still be tracking him...

Right...Vladimir a potential ally...What am I thinking?...He'd gladly offer me as a peace offering, a token of his esteem...

On the other hand...No point...And no safety...in showing his fear...Best to meet the fool head on and brazen it out...Hoping against hope that dear Darla had survived and would join him...

Pity she wasn't here now...With Vladimir's moronic conceit about his power over all things female, she'd easily be able to draw him off and dispose of him quickly...

Well...

He put on a jaunty face and strolled over casually...Noting the large human sitting across from the Impaler's feeble descendant...

Dinner?...No, Vladimir preferred female dinner companions...Unless he was really hard up for a meal...

"Angelus..." Vladimir smiled coldly...

"A pleasure, my dear fellow..."

Count...Angelus smiled back, bowing slightly...

"Mr. Stoker...May I present Mr. Angelus, a compatriot of yours..." Vladimir waved at Angelus...

"Mr. Bram Stoker..."

Angelus bowed slightly...

"Mr. Angelus is a friend of some long acquaintance..." Vladimir nodded at Angelus

Join us...Please...he frostily smiled...Signaling to Willie...Who hurried over...

With a toothy grin, Angelus accepted a seat in the booth beside Dracula...

"Whiskey...And the usual..." Angelus told the barkeeper...

"On tour, Mr. Stoker?..."he asked the large man pleasantly...

"Long way from home for both of us..."

"A writing engagement..." Stoker explained...

Ah...

"And you, my friend..." Vladimir smiled...Just the lips...

"What has brought you all this weary way from your adopted England...?"

"I believe I might ask the same of you, Count..." Angelus returned a cold stare...

"Your family had found a home in England when last we met..."

"Ah...Only my dear great-grandfather and several of his "nieces" chose to make that journey permanent...Homesickness would never allow me to desert my beloved Motherland for more than a short time..." Vladimir shook his head...

Stoker eyed the two carefully...The protective spell he'd secured in Bucharest to humor a concerned friend's...A secret member of the Watchers' Council...whim before coming out to accept the Count's offer of a writing collaboration had so far proven quite worth its weight in gold in dealing with the Dracule...But having little knowledge of the supernatural, he had to be careful about pushing the thing beyond its limits...And from what he'd learned from Dracula...And picked up himself along the way...It was clear this "Angelus" was also a powerful vampire...

"But my dear Angelus...What has brought you so far?..." the Count's attempts to affect an

unconcerned air clearly failing...

He'd obviously heard...Angelus realized...And was afraid the Slayer might be in hot pursuit...

And that this famed lady would not be swayed by his charms if she should make an appearance...

After all, she knew Transylvania...And the Dracule...all too well...

"Simply the pleasures of travel..."Angelus languidly waved a hand...

"Broadens the mind, you know...And my business affairs in this part of the world required a bit of my attention...A happy coincidence..."

"As is my finding you here tonight, my old friend..." he smiled...

"And your dear...Wife...The divine Darla...?" Vladimir looked about the inn, a hair anxiously...

Darla's reputation for stab-in-the-back ambush preceding her...

"Enjoying the pleasures of Bucharest for a few days...I felt traveling in these wild parts might be a strain for her delicate frame..."

Oh, brother...Vladimir rolled his eyes...Darla?...Delicate?...

Bitch must be hanging around outside...He looked around the inn at his various scattered Roma retainers...

So good to have loyal servants and expert killers...Even of the vampiral...At hand...

"So...Mr. Stoker...?" Angelus politely turned to the human guest...

"A writing assignment, you say..."

"No difficulty for one of our people..." he pleasantly noted...

"Especially in such a country...Filled with remarkable history..."

"And tall tales..." he grinned at Vladimir...Who narrowly stared back...

"Actually..." Stoker nodded...

"I'm assisting Count Vladimir in telling some tales of the Dracule..."

"Legends of course, but fascinating ones..."

"Really...?" Angelus smiled at Vladimir...

"Nothing of great interest to you, my friend..." the Count frowned coldly back...

"Merely a novel based on tales passed down for centuries among our family..."

A novel...? Angelus showed genuine interest...

"You know...I've had some ideas for novel writing myself..." he turned back to Stoker...

Indeed...the Irishman nodded politely...

"Well...We must not detain you, my dear Angelus..." the Count began...

"Not at all...I am staying the night...Far too...Violent..." he eyed Dracule... "A night outside for travel..."

Hmmn...A hidden meaning in that one...Vladimir thought...

Could the Slayer be that close...?

"So..." Angelus cheerily concluded... "We can enjoy a pleasant evening's discussion...Together..."

"Catching up on old times...And exchanging news of...Old friends..."

"Mrs. Walthrop for example..." he added...Causally...

Vladimir's face struggled to show no fear...

"And the...Delightful...Mrs. Walthrop...? Is she...Traveling as well...?"

"Practically in my footsteps..." Angelus grinned...

"Innkeeper..." he called...

"Another round for us all...And bring me whatever is agreeable for dinner this evening..."

"So...As I was saying, Mr. Stoker...I have a rather remarkable tale or two myself...In particular, one I feel is quite in keeping with the mystery and grandeur of this darkly beautiful land..."

"In fact, it reached its climax...And may reach its final conclusion...Here..."

"Here, sir?..." Stoker showed some interest...

Indeed...Angelus beamed..."Let me tell you the tale..."

Lovely...Vladimir sighed to himself, beginning to drum the fingers of his right hand on the table...

My writer...And Angelus is going to pick his brains for his own vampire story...

Still...If Mrs. Walthrop is as close at hand as he claims...Best to keep the possibility of a temporary alliance open...

"It began...One might say...On a dark night in 1880...When a strange and hideous creature of darkness received a strange visitation from what her tormented mind could only conceive of as a fairy godmother of sorts...Promising the lost one a great gift... "

(Overture begins...[Play theme...Overture From "The Phantom of the Opera")]

Part I...

London, 1880, night...

Off in the street a newsboy cries out the news of a brutal slaying..."The victim 'oribbly drained of

blood, 'is throat slashed open...Police baffled..."

A drunk staggers past an alley, startled to see a young and elegantly dressed young woman standing in front of the wan young streetwalker he'd noticed heading into the alley when he'd made a turn round fifteen minutes before...A young toff by her side...

Well...Who was he to judge if some lady liked to indulge herself?...Still...He did his best to impress her image on his clouded brain...

Might be the right thing to watch for her later...Would be worth a quid or two if he could let her know he'd seen her takin' her ungodly pleasures with the strange little lass...

Not something a lady would want banded about...

"My dear..." the young gentlewoman smiled at the wan girl...Who showed a certain degree of fear now that her efforts to hypnotize and take the lady had failed miserably...After she'd recognized the lady as the one whose coming she'd foreseen earlier...In dreams...

"My dear...You know that sort of thing won't work with me..." Halfreck beamed at the rather oddly dressed Dru...Wearing bits and pieces that had caught her fancy as symbols of elegance at various times...A bright scarf here, a scarlet ribbon there, various bits of shiny, cheap jewelry mingled with an item or two of value...All from the bodies of her victims and an occasional bit of snatching...

Not that grandmother Darla hadn't tried to keep her in something approaching decent dress...For the "family" reputation's sake...But Dru liked to make up her own outfits...And over time Darla had simply thrown up her hands and let Drusilla do as she pleased...

Which as it gave her the appearance of a typical young "lady of the evening", a lost girl out on the London streets...Perhaps a bit more sadly wan and lost than most..."An Ophelia of the alleyways" as one young fellow had once called her...Before taking advantage of her cooing with delight at his remark to flee safely away...Perhaps it was for the best...

Haly...In the form of her hopefully-soon-to-be-client...Eyed the girl carefully...

Not an easy task making use of this one...Loony as they come...

Yet with considerable ability...The one member of the Angelus pride, the most powerful set of vampires locally available, with any chance of succeeding in carrying out her little plan...

Dru was clearly becoming steadily more unnerved...This was no ordinary, foolish little human lady...Wandering away from the familiar and safe to explore London's darkest corners...

This was one...Of her kind...

Well, not exactly her kind...But definitely of demonkind...

"I am here...To help you, Miss Drusilla..." Halfreck smiled...

"I have a gift for you..."

Fear vanished briefly in the joy of anticipation...A gift!...

Wise Spike in another universe to have never allowed her access to telemarketers...

"A Prince is coming...Soon...To meet you..." Haly nodded to her...

"To be your very own..."

"A fine gentleman...A brilliant scholar...A great...er well...A poet..."

"Would you like that, sweetheart?..."

Oh...Dru trembled...A Prince...

Wait?...Some bit of her lost old self floated up...

Ummn...Poet?...Scholar...?

Some silly toff...?

"Me uncles always said...Such idle men were not..." a fragment from her past surfacing...

"He was a very poor man...He raised himself up..." Haly hastily noted...

"Very courageous...A fighter...With a noble soul...And yet the heart of a romantic..."

"Really...Your uncles would have thought well of him..."

"For me...?" Dru stared...

"For you, dear...Someone to care for you and make you happy...Always..."

"A present from the Fates...If you will do your part..."

"Me part?..." Strange...Me mum always said the angels brought their gifts with them...

"Where is he?..." she looked around...

"Not yet, dear...A few nights from now...Here in the alleyways...I will come to you the night he will be coming...If you will wait for him, seek him out..."

"Would you care to see his face?..." Haly smiled...

"Oh...Yes..." Dru nodded eagerly...

Halfreck lifted a locket hanging from her neck...An exact copy of one worn by her...hopefully...future client...Miss Cicely Addams...Opening it to display a small photograph of a slightly nervous, solemn, handsome young William Soames Walthrop...Decked out in his best suit...

A bit nervous herself...Dru was a bit more picky than she'd been led to expect...Hopefully he'd pass muster...

Oh...Dru gasped, open-mouth...Him...

"I've seen him...My Prince...Full of songs and stories..."

"And I am his Muse..." she told Haly...Now a bit surprised in her turn...Muse?...She knew him that clearly?...Though she'd been warned of Dru's clairvoyant abilities...

Abilities in fact essential to the plan...

A howling, harrowing cry from somewhere deep within...From a tortured soul trapped in limbo...

No...! God help me...!...

Phew...Halfreck thought...Stage one...Completed...Just one more member to get on the team...

"Well...Dear...I will return to you when the time has come...But before I go..." she paused...

"I must speak with your...Sister..."

"This cannot be..." Arthur Rathskeller, current chairman of the Royal Council of Librarians and Antiquarians...The Council of Watchers to those in the know...shook his head at Simon Farris, Watcher to the current...And Greatest...Slayer...

"Miss Addams cannot be serious in her intent...Not with the Angelus pride in London as we speak..."

Farris, a tall, white-haired distinguished-looking older man...The image of the future actor Ian Richardson...Smiled coolly at his chairman...

Dear Arthur...Such good fortune to have such a fool in the chairman's seat...A look at him and any fears that his plans might go awry...And his final climb to power be hindered...Melted away...

But then, he'd worked diligently for years to see that his dear old friend's virtue, integrity, and good heart were seen to outweigh any question of his talent or ability in dealing with the grave issues of the Council's real work...

"Miss Addams is quite serious...And will not be swayed..."

"Even by me..." he sighed...

"Simon, Simon...You must find a way to make her see her duty to Humanity..." Rathskeller paced the floor of his quite grand room in nervous anxiety...Pausing...

Please don't wear out the rug, Arthur...Farris thought, nodding solemnly at the Chairman...

It will be mine soon...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my

"Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part II...

Timing is the thing...William Soames Walthrop, Cambridge scholar and blossoming poet/author thought...

As he looked out a window at the early morning sky from the bed where he and his beloved Cicely lay...

Very early morning...About 4am...

It's like Mr. Micawber and his theory of household economy...Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery...

If she is up and out one minute before five...With forty minutes to make it home before the daily deliveries begin...We remain concealed and safe...

If I delay her so much as one minute longer than that...If she has only the thirty nine minutes to reach home...

Hell to pay...

Of course the theory falls apart...he noted to himself sheepishly...If her carriage hits a sinkhole or some other accident delays her journey...

Besides...I'd risk Hell for that one minute...Gladly...

He smiled at his faint reflection in the window glass...Who would have thought this...? So much as a single week ago...?

Cicely...Lying next to him...The divine Cicely Addams...

He turned back carefully to her...To find her wide-awake and staring at him...

She smiled gently at him...

"Did I wake you?..." he whispered quietly...

No...she shook her head...

"I wanted to look at you while you slept..."

"I just pretended to sleep when you awoke...Wanted to just watch you a few moments longer..."

He stared at her...Her beautiful long hair loose about her face...

"Should we get up...?"

No, no...she put a hand on his shoulder...

"There's time yet..." she smiled, hesitating...

Something...William realized...

Something wrong...

Ah...he sighed...Staring at her face...

So...It's over...

Well...he'd known it wasn't likely to last more than a few days at best...

I mean...Cicely Addams...

Wealthy young queen of London society...

And me?...Please...

A kindness of her to have give him such a taste of Heaven...

One that needs must now last him...For eternity...

Odd...A few days ago...I'd have raged at her...Cursed her for making me feel for her, need her...

But now...I'm only...Grateful...

Course I'll be pissed an hour or so from now...When her leaving me sinks in...

But...For now...To have had her love...Even for...

"Will...?..." she was eyeing him strangely...

Nerving herself for the blow, he realized...

Well...Hell, Miss Addams...William Soames Walthrop can bear it...After a lifetime of harsh struggle against hideous poverty, ending in a triumph of sorts with his entry into Cambridge...And a new world...He could bear even this blow...

"Are you all right...?" she looked at him with concern...

Fine...he nodded, a bit tense...

Be merciful...And quick...For God's sake, Cicely...If you felt anything for me...he thought...

"I have...Something to discuss with you..." she paused...

"It's rather...Delicate..."

Delicate?...We're two unmarried persons lying in a bed together, after a night of rather wild...

"It may be difficult..." she began...

To bear this blow, but I know someday you'll...he filled in for her in his mind...

"For us to make our way...But..."

What...? he blinked at her...

"I have faith in you...And in myself...In us..." she continued...

What...?

"And as for your family...I have an income...We can help them even while you're starting your career..."

He blinked harder...

"I have the means to live...William..." she stroked his arm nearest her...

"What I need...Is a reason to live..." she eyed him nervously...

"I know I should perhaps have waited to allow you to address me on this matter..."

"But...I know you feel you mustn't even consider such a step until you could provide for me...And your sister and brother..."

"But...Oh, Will...I love you so...I can't wait...I won't wait...And why should we...?"

"Will you marry me...?"

Ummn...

She stared at his open jaw...Increasingly nervous...

"Have I been too forward?..."

"You do love me...?"

"William...?"

"I...Ummn..." he stared...

"I have been too forward..." she teared up now...

"I'm so sorry..." she sighed, tears running...

"No, no...Cicely...I..." a horrified Will stared at the tears...

"Not at all...I was just..."

"I mean, dear heart...Hardly forward considering what we've been up to this past week..."

She stared...Slight annoyance beginning to enter...

"If this seems humorous to you, sir..."

No...he shook his head and patted her gently...

"Not humorous at all...Well...Not humorous in your case...Only...Mine..."

"I'm rather a ridiculous choice, you know..."

She teared again, turning away...

"Don't you love me, William...?"

"Love you?..." he gasped...

"Cicely...You are so...Far above me...That until just a moment ago..."

"I wasn't so "far above you" the past four nights, William..." she noted, a bit sternly...

"Rather close and available, I'd say..." she gave her first grin since embarking on this conversational topic...

"I thought you had the courage..." she eyed him...

"I know you have it...I'm not lying when I say I believe in you..."

"Do you want me...?" she asked him firmly...A bit of the Slayer's sternness creeping in now...

Cicely...he sighed...

"You'd lose so much by taking me..."

"God knows how I'd make out..."

"And I do not want your money...Though God knows I know what a difference in life money can make..."

She tensed...Her turn to anticipate a crushing blow...

In a year...Two...Three would be even better...Maybe four...They could talk again...See how he'd done in life...she filled in for him...

"But..." he paused...

"If you can accept all that you would lose...And have that much faith in me..."

"The answer is, yes...Thank you, Cicely..."

Phew...she thought...Tears of joy running down her face...As they stared at each other...

Be a pity to waste the rings...Already engraved and therefore non-returnable...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part III...

Barely an hour after William had accepted Cicely's proposal, Simon Farris paced his chambers, deep in thought...A man who slept little and rose early...As befitting one to whom so great a responsibility had been entrusted...

The training, assistance, and surveillance of the Slayer...Responsibilities not necessarily following in that order of importance to the Council...

As he'd indicated to Chairman Rathskeller the night before, he was already well aware of Miss Addams' plans to seek romance and solace in the arms of a certain diminutive poet...And well informed of how far along her plans had progressed...Though of course he could not be aware of their current advanced state...

The little fool was ready to destroy everything he had worked for...His champion Slayer, the Greatest of all Time...To throw herself away on a buffoonish social climber...A piece of filth from the gutter who'd somehow won a brief seat at the table...

And yet...Her thoughtless act offered a unique opportunity...If he could deal with the problem...Provide a permanent solution...While the poor Chairman wrang his hands futilely...He might well be in a position to overcome those who might otherwise keep him out of his proper place, including some few who suspected the ambition he so skillfully had masked for years...

And...If all had gone well last night...The first steps had been taken...

But, he had to know...Which also explained his early hours...

What safer time to make contact with his "partner"...Away from prying eyes, ears, and possibly eavesdropping magics practioners...

He laid out the implements, made the chant...

Halfreck, in Cicely dress and form, stood before him...

"Mr. Farris?...How good to see you again?...Are you well?..."

"What new menace threatens Humanity that you have called on the Slayer?...In such a unique fashion...?" she stared at him earnestly...

"Please...Miss Halfreck..." Farris eyed her coldly...

"I have no time to waste on such foolishness..."

She frowned...Such a performance deserves some little praise, she noted...And had required considerable time following Miss Addams about over the past few days...In invisible form...

An annoyed Darla tried once again to silence her over-excited grand-daughter...With day trapping them in their rooms, the Angelus pride had bedded down in their hotel suite...And Grandmother sorely needed her "beauty" rest...

"The fairy lady is sending me my Prince!..." Dru cried...

"My beautiful, handsome Prince...And I will be his guiding spirit..." she exulted...

"Me mum would be so proud of me...Landing such a fine gent..."she noted suddenly...A fragment of lost Dru floating up...

"Even my Bad Sister..." she halted...Looking at the glaring Darla...

"Never mention Bad Sister to Grandmother..." she whimpered aloud...

"Dru is never to talk to Bad Sister...Never to let her out to play...Bad, Bad Sister...Foolish Sister..."

"Human sister..."

"Dru...! Have you been trying to reach...It...Again?" Darla grabbed her...

That damned foolish soul of hers...Hiding in limbo from what she has become...But a danger should she surface at some ridiculously inappropriate moment...

Say when one was hiding from a lynch mob...As had happened ten years before in Paris...

Damned suicidal little nun nearly got them all killed making Dru cry out from their hiding place as the mob passed by...

Wasn't suicide a mortal sin for Hell's sake?...

Well...This was all Angelus' fault...He had to pick this one for his little mind-game routine...

His dear little daughter...And I am stuck caring for her...

Wonder what excuse he'll give for not joining us today when he gets hungry...Or frightened enough to come back...

(Hmmn...Vladimir thought, listening attentively in spite of himself as Angelus continued...Stoker, Willie, and several other guests likewise held rapt...

One must admit, Angelus makes no attempt to enhance his own character in his tales...

Fool...he grinned to himself...)

Dru continued to whimper in her grip...She released her...

"We never...Never!...Try to reach the Bad One, Drusilla...Do you understand?..."

She nodded..."Yes, Grandmother...Never..."

"And whatever nonsense you've picked up about fairy godmothers and so on...No doubt from your "father"...Get it out of your mind...Vampires do not have godmothers..."

"Yes...Grandmother..." Dru dutifully nodded...

"Now...Time for bed..."

She nodded again and headed for her bed...

Our Prince is coming...Sister...she thought...Soon...

And we will never be alone again...

(She sings in her bed...Hugging herself...

[Play...(Phantom of the Opera)]

In sleep he sang to me,

in dreams he came...

that voice which calls to me

and speaks my name...

And do I dream again?

For now I find

the Phantom Prince she promised me

is there - inside my mind...

Ah, Sister...she hugs herself...

Sing once again with me

our strange duet...

My power over you

grows stronger yet...

And though you turn away,

and glance behind,

the Phantom Prince she promised us

is there - inside our mind...

Those who see my true face

draw back in fear...

But I'm the mask you wear...

Sister dear...

My essence and your soul,

are one combined:

the Evil that I am today

inside's your mind...

He comes...the Phantom Prince she promised...

He's ours...the Phantom Prince she promised...

In all your fantasies,

you always knew

the Evil that I am...

...was bred in you...

And in your labyrinth,

where night is blind,

the Evil that we have become's

inside your mind...

Sing, with me Sister...Ha, Ha!

Sing for our Prince...

He comes...the Phantom Prince she promised...

He's ours...the Phantom Prince she promised...Ha, Ha, Ha!

Oh God!...Forgive me!...A scream from within...

As Dru chuckles softly to herself...)

"Drusilla!...No more singing, damn you!...Go to sleep!..."

Yes, Grandmother...

"Did all go well...?" Farris eyed Halfreck as she sauntered about his parlor in the guise of Miss

Addams...Eyeing her "partner"...

Rather a handsome older fellow she noted to herself...Nodding and smiling delicately as she twirled her parasol about the room...

And she was well aware he had designs on Miss Addams...Rather...Unspeakable designs...

Pity D'Hoffryn would never allow her to stay in Miss Addams' place...Unlike her famed friend Anyanka, D-H's champion vengeance demon, she sometimes still found the human world and its inhabitants...Interesting...

For a brief time of course...Say a century or so...

Pity...Might have been fun to be Farris' Queen Consort of the Earth for a bit...

Cicely...The tall dark-haired young gentleman eyed his cousin...

"Henry..." she beamed...Doing her best to make a entrance to the Addams home at this ungodly hour seem the most natural thing in the world...

Besides...What was he doing up and about so early?...

"If your father learned you were coming home just now..." he sighed...

"You were with William, weren't you?..."

"I believe my affairs...Er my activities...Are my own con..."

"He's set Smike and Squears to watch for you, Cicely...You may thank God those lazy oafs couldn't get up before seven if their lives depended on it..."

Oh...she looked round a bit...No sign of an angry Papa...Well...

"And why are you..." she began...

"I trusted you and Will to behave yourselves, Cicely...I introduced you, brought Will here...That

makes this situation my responsibility..." Henry sighed...

"By all rights I should ask Will never to see you again...And tell your father..."

"I thought my friend a better man...And I thought better of you, dear..."

She bristled up...Just a mo, cousin...

"Henry...You allowed us the use of your cottage...Left us there unchaperoned...Let us use your rooms here in town..."

"What the hell did you think we were doing?..."

"I didn't expect you to lose your heads completely..." he hissed...Pulling her over towards the back garden as a grocer's wagon stopped...

"This can't continue..."

"It won't..." she eyed him...Slight guilt creeping in...

Henry Alexander Foxcroft...The noblest man in the world...Papa excepted of course...And pre-

William naturally...

And the most gentle-souled...Again, pre-Will...

Only natural he'd blame himself for anything that might reflect badly on her in this situation...

Poor Henry...Always there for her...Helping her blindly at a moment's notice whenever needed...Although she'd kept him in the dark as to her secret calling...

Wonderful Henry...Who brought William to her door...

Meddlesome Henry...Sticking his nose into her affairs...

Still...His concern was for her...And his friend Will...Who would almost certainly face severe difficulties if their affair were to be exposed prematurely...

He deserved to have his fears of Will's intentions...And her own...He well aware that his dear cousin was quite likely to have been the instigator in this...Set to rest...

Besides...She had to tell somebody...Before she exploded...

"We're to be married, Henry!..." she whispered...Watching him blink intensively...

"Tomorrow night...In secret...And then we'll leave...Together..."

"We'd very much like to have you there..." she noted eagerly...

Hmmn...Finally managed to shake that calm nature a bit...she thought with satisfaction...

"The creature will be there...?" Farris eyed Halfreck...

You are sure...?

"I not only spoke with "the creature"..." Haly smiled... "I contacted her trapped soul, poor thing..."

"Desperate for any hope of rescue, anything to ease its tormented loneliness..."

"She'll be pushing for Drusilla to meet up with our Mr. Walthrop, you can be sure..."

Excellent...Simon beamed...

"But can you be sure Cicely will accept my... "help"...?" Haly eyed the Watcher...

"She must, you know...Or I can do nothing..."

"Miss Addams has been in my charge since she was a small child..." Farris looked at the demon coolly...

"And trusts me...Implicitly...With some good reason as I have saved her from death on a number of occasions..."

"If I tell her you can save her little poet from death...She will believe it..."

"She's planning to leave London...Take him with her..." the demon paused, still twirling her parasol...

"She won't go before we can act...Not with the Angelus pride in town..." Farris smiled...

"And I will see to it that her sense of duty is properly reinforced...At least for this one last battle..."

"They marry tonight..." Haly blandly glanced at him...

"Suppose she takes him away tonight...?"

"Cicely will not leave before she knows Angelus and his "family" have been dealt with...And I have informed her that we should be able to determine their nesting place by tomorrow night..."

The truth actually, he reflected...But then, destruction of the Angelus pride would be the crowning achievement of his career as Watcher...Capped only by his assumption of the Chairmanship...And control of the power it would allow him to access...With the Slayer's help...

Whoever she might be...

"Please let D'Hoffryn know his services to Humanity are deeply appreciated...As are your own..." he smiled...

"And will be remembered..."

"Just so long as you leave poor Miss Addams to us..." Haly noted...

"As per our arrangement...And make no effort to prevent her from accepting my lord's offer..."

"My dear..." Farris solemnly noted...

"Miss Addams has selfishly betrayed her duty...Chosen to abandon her post...And is no longer of interest to the Council..."

"In fact...I assure you...We would appreciate her removal from this world as quickly as possible..."

"There is always another Slayer?..." Halfreck smiled back...

"Only if the present one dies..." Farris returned the smile...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part IV...

Well...Henry eyed his friend William Soames Walthrop as they sat in their regular breakfasting place near Henry's rooms, temporarily occupied by his visiting friend while Foxcroft stayed with the family...

Well...William nodded back brightly...

How does one ask a question like this?...Henry wondered...

Are you sleeping with my...No, not quite the thing...

I hear you are secretly engaged to my...Hmmn...Perhaps not...

"Is Cicely well..?" he tried...

William choked on his coffee...Sputtering...

"My dear fellow..." Henry patted him on the back...

Sorry...William gasped...

Cicely?...he looked at his friend...

"Henry..." he began...Intending to make the natural evasion...You surely would know better than...

But...This was ole Henry...His best friend...The man who'd brought him and Cicely together...Provided them with their various trysting places...Trusting in their discretion and good sense...In his friend's character...

And who...Unless utterly brainless...Must have had some idea of what they were about...

"I suppose you know...No doubt she's said something to you..." he sighed...

Henry shook his head, sighing in turn...No one but William Soames Walthrop would have refrained from an evasion on this matter, politely deflected the subject, or refused to speak of it outright...Sterling fellow, of stout heart and character as he'd known from the day they'd met...Worthy perhaps, even of a Cicely...

Clumsy moron...Not to conceal something like this...Thank God he'd only spoken to him as yet...If he came out forthrightly like this to Cicely's father...

His obituitary would probably not make the Times...

A rather doe-eyed young man stood waiting on the stoop of the Addams-Foxcroft townhouses...Two homes, owned by the extended family, linked by interlocking doors on every floor to the extent that very few guests entering could make the distinction between the two families unless of long acquaintance...

As was the lovestruck Mr. Levinson...Jonathan Levinson, young and reasonably rising barrister...Would be candidate for the hand of London's fair young queen of society...Miss Cicely Addams...His only drawbacks...His somewhat limited social skills, owing to intense shyness...His slight lack of height...And well...

1880...But Cicely's was a progressive family...And took pride in refraining from such prejudices...

After all, Disraeli was one of England's great statesmen, her father often noted...Eyeing Mr. Levinson at Cicely and Henry's more Bohemian social functions...

To his credit, Jonathan paid no attention to the possibility of an obstacle in that area...His faith in Miss Addams not allowing her any such flaws...To her credit...That was not the reason for her failing to view him in the light he wished...And likewise to her credit, she regarded him warmly as a dear and kind friend...Though she feared for the day when she would have to cause him pain...

A day, sadly, which had come at last...

"Mr. Levinson..." A rather pale looking, if impeccably dressed and coiffed Miss Addams took his hand at the door...

"Miss Addams..." he doffed his hat...

"I hope I have not come too early..."

"Never, Mr. Levinson..." she beamed, waving him in...

Anne...she called to a young maid...

"Coffee or tea?..." she turned to Jonathan...

"Coffee..." he beamed...

"Have you some business in hand for Father this morning?..." she smiled at him as they entered the day parlor...He taking his favorite spot on the small settee...

"A few papers to sign..." Jonathan smiled...Patting a small binder...

Thank God for 1880 technology...Or lack thereof...Every business document requiring personal attention...

"Are you ill, Miss Addams...?" he eyed her somewhat wan face anxiously, nodding his thanks as she offered him his cup...

"Up too late, again I'm afraid..." she sighed... "My own fault, Mr. Levinson..."

"I too often choose to burn the candle at both ends...Enjoy my little social duties too much..."

"Was it some discussion of merit?..." he asked, genuinely interested...No one like Cicely and Henry to find interesting people with fascinating points of view...

"Indeed..." she beamed..."I wish you'd been there...You'd have enjoyed it..."

"Mr. Walthrop was especially brilliant..." she lied brightly...

Oh...Levinson's face fell ten feet...

Mr. Walthrop...

Other gentlemen flitting around Cicely Addams might be fool enough not to see any danger in young Walthrop...But Jonathan knew his Cicely...

And had seen her animated face talking to him...Talking of him...

Hmmn...The one unforgivable act his friend Henry had committed in all the years they'd known each other...

To introduce Mr. William Soames Walthrop into the Addams household...

Not that Jonathan was a fool...He knew in his honest heart of hearts the extent of Cicely's regard for him...Still, stacked against most of the idiots and worthless fools she'd had to deal with in London's present social scene he'd measured up quite well...And there'd always been the chance that given the lack of good material, she'd have eventually gone for the best in character and shared interests she could find...

A chance which was now vanishing like mist in the summer sun...

Well...An English barrister must press on...And the friendship of a Cicely was a prize he deemed worth retaining...

"And Mr. Walthrop is well...?" he smiled...His heart sinking down through the floor to the basement through the cement to the London sewers below...From whence it drifted out to sea...Lost and forlorn...

"Very well..." she beamed...

"He...And Henry..." she added for form's sake... "Are doing excellently at Cambridge this year..."

"It was fortunate for Henry to have had Will's...Mr. Walthrop's assistance in his studies..." she continued...

Indeed...Jonathan nodded...Smiling a wan little smile...

Oh...Cicely suddenly realized...

She'd forgotten...Oh...Poor Jonathan...

Well, perhaps she could take him out back...Cheer him by confiding her secret to him...

Ummn...No...She told herself...

Don't think that would quite be the thing to pluck him up...

Anne the maid entered, providing welcome relief...

"Mr. Fowler..." she announced...Fowler following on her heels...

"Mr. Fowler..." Cicely eyed Mr. Andrew Fowler...Of the mercantile firm of Fowler and Fowler...His brother Tucker senior partner...

"Miss Addams..." Andrew beamed...

Cicely eyeing Jonathan with a slightly wry look...Jonathan smiling faintly back...

A good-hearted fellow, Andrew...Of the somewhat oafish variety...

"And what brings you here on this fine day...Mr. Fowler...?" Cicely smiled at him as he gave his hat to Anne and took a seat across from her...

He blinked at her...As always...

And gave the same surprised, if rather touchingly innocent answer...

"Why?...You, Miss Addams..."

"I know you must have serious reservations about this, Henry..." William hesitated...Eyeing his friend as they strolled toward the Addams townhouse...

Reservations?...Henry thought...

About my cousin Cicely throwing herself away on a poor poet with nothing to his name?...Whom I introduced to her...And allowed to meet her on secret rendezvous in my own cottage and rooms...?

How could I possibly...

"Reservations...Too tame a word, Will..." he frowned...

"I know you love each other...I trust you...And her..."

"But this is the real world...And you have nothing...Except your fine mind and talent...And drive..."

"On the other hand...She does have a considerable inheritance from her mother...Not a huge

income...But you won't starve..."

"You are a good man...A courageous one I would say...Well..."

"She really asked you?..." he grinned...

Yeah...Will nodded...

"And had the rings inscribed?..." he stared at him...

Hmm-hmmn...

"My God..." Henry shook his head...

"That's our Cicely..."

"Yours now, William..." he smiled at his friend...

"Just one thing, my friend..." he frowned...

"You realize I will kill you if you ever hurt her..."

"My duty, you know...As I was the one who brought you together..."

"Wouldn't have it any other way...Henry..." Will nodded...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part V...

Meanwhile...Trapped by the new day, with little thanks for his unceasing labors on their behalf, the noble Angelus rested from his weary search for a new nest for his women, one safe from the searching eyes of the Watchers' Council...

Of the battles he had fought to secure the new domain from its former occupants and to hold it from them, their allies, and other challengers, it need only be said...No vampire prince had ever fought against such great odds...So nobly...For his mates...

(I take back what said about his not enhancing his character...Vladimir thought...

Brooding vain jackass...Everyone knows discretion to the point of rank cowardice is his middle name...If not his first...)

At the Addams home, maid Anne entered the parlor with a note...Cicely read it with a frown as Andrew, Jonathan, and several other recently arrived gentlemen eyed her...

"Anything wrong...?" Jonathan grabbed the privilege of friendship to be first in line...As the others glared slightly at him...

"No...Nothing, just a reminder of an engagement I must make this afternoon..." she replied, still frowning at the paper...

Will they never let me be...? Damn them...she thought...

Still, I must know what happened with the new pride...If they're as powerful as Simon's told me...

I'll have to deal with them before we leave...

"So...He's quite a charming man..." Haly smiled at her old friend Anyanka as they sipped tea in one of London's more elegant hotels...

The concierge eagerly having greeted the divine Miss Addams...So lovely to have her and her companion for even the simplest meal...

Make sure the word is spread...And the Times is informed...he hissed to his staff...London's social queen doesn't show up at every locale...

"I dunno, Haly...A deal with the Watchers?...I wouldn't trust those humans as far as I could throw their hearts..." Anyanka frowned...

"D'Hoffryn wants this to come off, Anyanka..." Halfreck smiled...

"His first real shot at a Slayer vengeance demon..."

"No Slayer is ever going to join the firm, Halfreck..." Anyanka shook her head..."D-H is living in a dream world...As opposed to his current nightmarish dimension...If he thinks so..."

"Cicely..." Haly hissed...Looking over at the approaching attentive waiter...

"I'm Cicely Addams here...Remember?"

"And if she shows...?" Anyanka eyed her...

"She won't...I'm attuned to her as my potential client..." Haly reminded her...

"And could be outta here in two seconds flat if I had to..."

"Let me ask you, Haly?..." Anyanka stared at her friend...

Rather nice form there she had to admit...Similar to her original but lighter-skinned and much better teeth...But then dental care in ancient Egypt wasn't exactly...

This Cicely must be some distant relative for such a resemblance...Probably the main reason D-H chose her for the job...she thought, still a bit miffed...

But there was something more at work here...Which she hoped to ferret out...Both to soothe her wounded vanity and for good office gossip...

"You have a personal stake in this one, don't you...?"

Halfreck blinked...Whoops...

If Anyanka knows something...D-H knows everything...

"Why...Whatever do you mean...?" she stared at her...

"Haly...er Cicely..." she corrected as the waiter took their plates...

"You know the demon counterpart of that boy...Don't you?..."

"The what of whom...?" Haly stared back...Giving a quick glance at the retreating waiter...

Heard nothing...Or cared less...she noted...

"This fellow...The foolish Slayer's idiot fiancee...You know his counterpart...Or your demon knew him..."

Ummn...

"It won't work Haly...He'll be a vampire demon...With a mother in this psycho you're taking on for the job..."

"And you know how vampires go for incest..."

"This is just another job...D-H assigned me himself..." Halfreck insisted...

"I'd never act unprofessionally...You know that Anyanka..."

"You really think Spike won't be interested?..." she glumly stared, dropping her poised professional mask...

"Hal..Cicely...You're setting yourself up for heartbreak here..." Anyanka sighed...

"How well did your demon know him in Hell anyway?..."

Ummn...

Well...

"I never quite got round to speaking to him...He was quite a popular fellow..."

"But he eyed me once...With a very significant look..." she noted...

Anyanka shook her head...Haly...

"You'll screw this one and throw your career away..." she sighed...

"You like the victim...A cardinal violation..."

"Only the counterpart..." Haly insisted firmly...

"I don't give a fig about young Mr. Walthrop the little human nobody..."

"And it can only stimulate my efforts to know that they'll result in Spike's emergence..."

Spike...? Anyanka stared...Lord...

I can just imagine...Some swaggering type with a phony romantic mystery air...And Haly is a push-over for romantic swaggerers...

"He's got a very romantic air...From his human..." Haly noted eagerly...Starting to gush a bit...

Hal...Cicely...Anyanka frowned...

"So...Walthrop..." Andrew stared at William as they sat in Cicely's parlor...The only two besides

the recently departed Henry to hang on steadily throughout the afternoon, even Jonathan having had to return to his office after securing his signatures from Mr. Addams...

Cicely herself having retired a few moments to change...

"Are you in business with Mr. Addams?..." Still a tad confused as to Will's profession despite their frequent encounters in this same parlor and at various Addams-Foxcroft parties...

Henderson and some of the other would-be suitors lounging in various chairs about the room smiled sneeringly at Walthrop...

"Mr. Walthrop has no business as yet, Fowler..." Henderson noted...

"He's a...Scholar and...Poet..." Punctuated by appropriate eyerolls...

Oh...Andrew nodded...Ah, no wonder...he thought...Some bizarre friend of dear Cicely's...An artist type...Oh, yes...Walthrop the poet...

"Must be quite a job..." he kindly noted to William...

"Gathering all those words out of books and all...Quite out of my line, you know..."

"I'm in..."

Henderson interrupted harshly...Not exactly the effect he'd wanted...

"Mr. Walthrop is an amazing curiosity, Fowler...A project of Henry and Cicely's...A...Prodigy..." he smiled at William...

"Just a student, Mr. Fowler..." William smiled back at Andrew, ignoring an increasingly irate Henderson...

"From a rather poor family..."

"Yes..." Henderson eyed him..."But then our Cicely must have her little pets, mustn't she..."

"Poor, eh?..." Andrew looked at Walthrop...Ah, yes of course...The little fellow who'd found his way to Cambridge...

"Quite nice, making your way to University on your own ticket and all that..." Andrew smiled...

"Rather a job for fellows like us, eh, Henderson...?" he turned to the now slightly red-faced man...

"Silver spoons in the mouth and all...We'd be hard-pressed..."

"Speak for yourself, you God-damn fool!..." Henderson glared...

The other gentlemen scattered about eyed him...Hmmn...On the one hand...Henderson merely gave voice to their own disdain for the little guttersnipe Cicely so foolishly seemed to have taken a shine to...Out of her kind heart no doubt...

On the other hand...Cicely was sure to register intense annoyance at any rude treatment of the always good-hearted if somewhat dense Fowler...Not to even begin to mention Walthrop...

Henderson...One quietly eyed him...

"I don't think there's call for such talk, friend..." Walthrop eyed him...

Pushing the easily-irritated Henderson to his narrow limits...

"No offense, all in good sport..." the genial Andrew tried to calm the waters...Mustn't let Cicely find us at a row...Very distressing to her...

"Of course, Mr. Fowler..." Walthrop nodded...

"All in good sport..." he eyed Henderson...

He could be patient for poor ole Fowler's sake...And Cicely's...

After all...By this time tomorrow night the news would be out...And Henderson hanging from a rafter in his attic...

No, not the type William sighed to himself...Still...The image was pleasurable...Almost as satisfying as the one he'd had the previous night of Henderson with a large railroad spike in his skull allowing some air and light in...

And the fellow would experience a certain satisfying degree of humiliation and rage...

At least enough to make up for that evening two weeks ago...When he'd laughingly...Rather like a coarse ape, Walthrop noted, smiling at the toff's reddening face...assigned Will his own brilliant choice of laudatory title...

William the Bloody Awful...

Though Cicely's furious glare at the man had already gone a long way towards assuaging what pain he'd caused...

Not to mention her actions after the party when she slipped over to join him at Henry's old digs...Invited him to "fire his imagination" by traveling with her the coming Saturday to see Henry's cottage in the Lake District...and Fate had taken its happy course...

And Will had to admit...Hadn't been one of his best readings...And the work needed...Work...

As even dear Cics had hesitantly suggested...After providing more than her share of reassurance...

Far, far more...

Yes...It was best to take a cool air with this fellow...Especially with Cics due any minute...And most of his fellow suitors for once nervously backing his side...All too well aware which side Cicely would see in the better light should she come now...

Henderson likewise sensed he'd lost that vital edge of support without which his remarks took on their natural state...Those of a jealous, preening boor with quite a nasty streak...And no real hope of success in his suit...

He rose furiously...As Cicely re-entered, dressed...Well...Suffice it to say...

The entire room of her suitors...Would be and otherwise rose in admiration...

"Well...I see you are leaving us, Mr. Henderson..." Cicely eyed him, hat in hand but still in position to have made a quick retraction but for her dismissal...

"I trust we will see you tomorrow night?..." she brushed past him to take a seat by Walthrop and ole Andrew...

He stared...Hat still clutched...Looking round a bit feebly for some support...

None to be had, clearly...The others having clustered about her...

Mumbling what was generously accepted as a good-bye, he stalked out...Cicely eyeing him narrowly...with satisfaction...

No one disses the Slayer's fella and leaves without serious bloodletting, at least spiritually...Not even in the more gentlemanly days of 1880...

Following Henderson's departure the other suitors did their level best to maneuver Walthrop out of his favored position by Cicely...Regally at home in her little court...With no success...

Efforts which she took a certain conscious pleasure in frustrating...Well aware that their failure to support their fallen leader was due more to the desperate hope of winning her favor rather than any burst of good fellowship towards her Will...

With the exception of good-hearted Andrew of course...Who'd always treated William in friendly spirit and now found himself quite a favored object...

Perhaps taking a little too obvious pleasure...She reluctantly noted to herself...As even Will suggested quietly she pay a little attention to her other guests...All of whom were beginning to show a fair degree of annoyance at the situation as the day wore on...

But, what the hell...Her last day as London's unattached social queen...The end of her double life approaching at last...Farewell to such nonsense as this...

In just a few hours...If dear Henry had carried out his reluctantly accepted duty and made arrangements...Enabling them to stay by the house and keep dear Papa and his watchdogs off their guard...

She could abandon Cicely the vapid social ornament...And the Slayer...

Not that she wouldn't want to retain something of each...Cicely's grace and intellect...Her curiosity in everything and all people to come her way...her sincere love of beauty, the arts...The Slayer's pride in her abilities and the fulfillment of her duties...

Just...She wanted a life...And what she had now...Was not life...Just the anticipation of that fate which all Slayers must inevitably embrace...The severing of all human ties, followed by a few short years helping the condemned and protecting Humankind, then...the release of death...

It was not that she wished to abandon Duty...Whatever her Watcher must have assumed after her last exhausted tirade against her Fate...

But she could not give up all...Not all...Not the romantic in her that made life worth living even in the face of her nightly contact with the worst that this world and the next had to offer...

Something had to be kept...Clung to...She eyed Will...

My one bit of romance...All the rest can go...Burned away by the Slayer...But not him...

Even if that choice cost her her Watcher's regard and the support of the Council...And thereby shortened her potential life still further...

Still...she sighed to herself...William looked at her tired face...

One more item to deal with...A last duty to those who'd trained and prepared her for the struggle she would now carry on without them to be performed...

"Cic...Miss Addams...?" he asked quietly...

"Is something wrong...?"

As in...Have you come to your senses and decided this is the craziest idea in the world...? he thought, nervously scanning her face...

"I will have to leave you for a bit, Will...Mr. Walthrop...And all of you, gentlemen..." she turned to face the rest as well...

Smike!...she called...

A fish-eyed, brown-haired young lout of twenty-something emerged from the kitchen hallway in his standard slouching gait...His nickname, a gift bestowed years ago by Mr. Addams while engaged in reading "Nicolas Nickelby " to his and his sister's children...His real name...Warren Smithe (and the e was suspected as no more than a fancy conceit of his by Cicely and Henry)...

Watching us...Just as Henry said...she frowned...

Well...Give him something to tell Papa now...Though not dealing with William...

"Bring the two-seater round to the front..." she told the smirking footman...

Now...she frowned at him...

He sauntered off...

"An engagement with an old friend which cannot be broken..." she explained to William and the others...

"Walk me to the..." six gentlemen hopped to their feet, hats crushed in hand...

"...door?...Mr. Walthrop?" she finished, rising...

"And you, dear Mr. Fowler..." she beamed at Andrew...

Gentlemen...she waved an airy hand...

Something's neither fish nor Fowler...one of the disgruntled suitors eyed the others...

No, I'd call it...Bloody Awful...another frowned...

Henry Foxcroft had included an additional stop on his way to fulfill his promises to his beloved cousin Cicely...

To keep an appointment he'd made secretly some time ago with an eye to assisting his talented but rather proud...and shy...friend in his career...An appointment that might be even more pressing now given Cicely and Will's intentions...

"Well...?" Henry eyed his friend...

"Interesting...Quite amusing..." The portly gentleman nodded...Looking through the pages he'd been given a few days previous...

"He is a great admirer of yours and Arthur's..." Henry paused...

"You say he is unpublished as yet..."

"And quite aware that it may be some time before his work merits substantial remuneration...?"

"Yes...William is well aware of the obstacles to a young unknown..." Henry nodded...

"Which is why I believe he'd be eager to take any assignment you could offer..."

Well...William S. Gilbert hesitated...

"Is all his work up to this...?"

Well...Henry hesitated in turn...

"His more serious work is still developing...But as you see he has a fine flair for the comic..."

"He would understand he would merely be assisting in revisions from time to time?...That he would receive mention only as I and Arthur chose...?"

Indeed...Henry nodded... "In fact, he is still completing his time at Cambridge...So this would do well for him..."

Hmmn...Gilbert eyed the manuscripts before him...Copies Henry had requested...Requests which Will had taken as simply attempts to encourage...

"Marrying your cousin, Miss Addams, eh...?" he looked at Henry... "Must be quite a bold young fellow..."

Yes...Henry nodded, sighing a bit...

"I must discuss this with Arthur and D'Oyly you know..." Gilbert lifted a page...Chuckling at something he'd read...

"Naturally..." Henry beamed...

"Very well...Have your friend stop by my office in London...Say next Thursday..."

"And we'll see..."

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part VI...

Cicely made a point of being attentive to dear ole Andrew as she, he, and William awaited Smike with her small open carriage...

But managed to quietly pass Will a note...

"Some instructions for my cousin...Henry..." she patiently explained to Fowler...Climbing into the newly arrived cart...

"Ah...yes...Your cousin?...Foxcroft, yes...Capital fellow..."Andrew nodded...

This one sits on 25,000 pounds a year...? thought Smike, eyeing Fowler as he held the horse...

Well...If that fool Walthrop can make his way in the world...he glanced at Will...A clever fellow like Warren "Smike" Smithe (brilliant idea that e ) is sure to thrive...

If he keeps his eyes and ears open and his wits about him...

With a last glance at Will and a smile to Andrew, Cicely drove off...A grim look settling in her face...

A look few among her suitors would have recognized...But many among her enemies knew all too well...

"My dear Cicely..." Farris rose to greet his Slayer as she entered his simple rooms...

Mr. Farris...she nodded...

"Got your note..." She paused...And took the seat he waved her to...Like his rooms...Spartan, as befitting a noble and humble servant of Humanity...

"You're certain Angelus and his pride are in London...?"

"The Council has eyewitnesses to several of the recent murders..." he nodded... "And several psychic members have sensed the near presence of the unique Miss Drusilla..."

Drusilla...Cicely sighed...

The unknown factor...Angelus for all his reputation seemed rather a typical vain petty vampire prince...His siress Darla, though clever and dangerous, likewise typical...

Both more concerned with survival than anything else...

But this strange Drusilla...

And worst of all, the Council wanted her taken...Alive...

"Simon..." she rubbed her cheek...After all their years together and the countless times each had saved the other's life, she allowed herself that liberty on occasion...

"It's insane to try and study this lunatic..."

"Cicely...The dictates of the Council are not for us to judge..." Simon noted sternly...

Especially when thought up by me...he thought...

"But why should they want...?" she frowned at him...

"To destroy the Evil...One must study it..." Simon intoned...

An old Watcher maxim...She smiled at him...

He smiled back...Not to difficult to smile at beauteous Cicely...

"Still..." he gave her a wry look...

"No reason we can't force those simpletons to do their own work...If they wish to study Miss Drusilla, let them capture her...Your duty is to protect others...Deal with Angelus and Darla and leave the other to the Council..."

Yes, above all...Do not jump the gun and kill the insane little thing before she's done her job for me...

He stared at her...Exhausted...On edge...These last few days clearly leaving her torn with indecision and doubt...

Excellent...

"Cicely...Have you reconsidered your decision?..." he asked quietly...

No...she eyed him firmly...

"After the Angelus pride is dealt with...I'm leaving my family...And London..."

And me...he thought grimly...For that fool...

"You wanted me to sever my ties..." she noted...

"To focus on your work...And protect your family...Yes...To abandon your duty...No..." he shook his head...

"I'll be in communication with the Council...Come if they need me for a special purpose...Continue my work as I can...But I will live my own life..."

"And with this man...Who will never be more than a care to you...?" Anger got the better of him a moment...He hadn't meant to let her know he knew...

She reddened a bit...But got control back quickly...

So...she stared coldly at him...

"You know about William..."

"You've been having me watched, Simon..."

"I have a duty to the Council...And Humanity, my dear..." he nodded...

She sighed...

"I don't expect you to understand..." she paused...

Oh...he thought...Frowning at her...

I understand...A fool of a romantic with childish notions in her head...

"I want a life, Simon...I want some love and happiness in that life...I know I can't go on with the family here...I know the underworld is beginning to uncover my secret...But I can't live without William...I won't give him up too..."

"They will find him...And use him against you...If you really do plan to continue the work on your own..." Farris eyed her coolly...

"I am not a machine!...I am not a wind-up soldier!...I won't live, expecting every day to die...Alone..."

"If we die...We die...But we die together..." she stood up...

"Ah..." he nodded solemnly... "So...He has accepted this...?"

She hasn't told him...he realized, watching her...

Just as I expected...he thought happily...

"He will..." she replied...

He must...

"When the time comes...I'll speak to him..."

"In any case...I can protect him...It'll only be the one..."

"And your...Children?..." Farris looked at her...

She sighed...

"Cicely...I only want to help you...Make life simpler for you..."

You know you can confide in me...Trust me...Why have you tried to keep all this from me?...

"All I want is your happiness, dear...Even more than our triumph over Darkness, I want that..."

Despite his noble heart and courage...Worthy of making him an object of sympathy even by those humans who constituted his prey...the famed vampire lord Angelus found himself forced to consider the possibility of departing London as he lay in the new nest he'd secured...

Solely for the sake of his mates, of course...Their safety being paramount in his mind...

The Observer from the Council whom Darla...er...whom he...had captured and killed the previous night had made it clear during his interrogation...Between pleas for his miserable life and incoherent screams from the tortures applied...That the Council of Watchers and its Slayer considered him a grave anger...To be dealt with asap...

Naturally...

But, as accustomed to danger as was the mighty and fearless Angelus...The thought of his dear women at risk...Turned his near-human heart cold...

(Brrh...Willie giggled...Angelus glaring at him... "What was that, innkeeper?..."

"Sorry, sir...Choked...On something..." Willie replied...

I as well...Vladimir smiled, giving a delicate cough...)

As I was saying...The mighty and fearless Angelus pondered the grave threat to his beloved ones...In his newly secured...At great personal risk, one must note...nest...

Unaware that the threat posed by the Slayer would soon increase to astronomical proportions...And that he and his dear mates would soon be the primary focus of her wrath...The...More or less...Innocent focus at least in his and Darla's cases...

Perplexed and weary from his labors, he rested...Waiting for the instant he could seek out his loved ones...

(After abandoning his poor ladies to their fates, he spent the day sleeping his lastest debauchery off in a safe place...Vladimir noted to himself...

"I refer to a legendary ancestor of course..." Angelus explained to Stoker...

"A noble fellow, cursed by an evil fate...Or so our legends say..."

If this buffoon tries to steal my Great-grandfather's story...Vladimir thought...)

Nothing in this world...No hardship, no ridicule could have brought William Soames Walthrop low as he cheerily chatted with Andrew, ignoring the various attempts by those other fellow suitors who hung on in the Addams parlor after Cicely's departure to snub him...All hoping to find themselves that lucky sole man who'd held out for her return...

Nothing...After reading her brief note...

"Don't believe what they say...Believe in me...As I believe in you...I will be waiting for you and Henry at his flat...And then I will be with you...and love you...Always...

Cicely..."

Darkness had fallen...Giving the noble Angelus his chance to rejoin his loved ones...

But, alas...He had reached a sad but necessary decision...The threat to his own was too great,

unbearable as the thought of separation, however brief was...

Drusilla still slept as he arrived at the hotel where they'd been lodging...

He informed his beloved and anxiously waiting Darla of the location of the new nest...Safe haven at least for the moment from the Slayer and her Council...

Noble soul...er Essence...That she was...His Darla realized he had made his courageous decision...And did her best to conceal her heart's pangs...

"You must fly...My love..." Darla eyes him...

(Anything to get you away from me before the Slayer catches up with you...Unless...If I kill him now...Hmmn...No Angelus, no Angelus pride to seek...She eyes a wooden chair...)

"But...How can I leave you, my love..." Angelus sighs at Darla...(As she sadly wanders over to the chair and stands in front it...Breaking off part of an arm quietly when he turns away...)

"No...Whatever the outcome...I cannot..."

(Lady, if you think I'm facing the Slayer alone...he thinks...

On the other hand...Without you and my psycho "daughter" weighing me down like lead...)

They sing...

(Over the Hills and Far Away...from the Beggar's Opera by John Gay...

Play

Had to give them one...er...love...song-by the way, try and catch the old Lawrence Olivier film of Beggar's Opera, it's great-he actually sings well...)

Angelus

(beaming at Darla)

Were I laid on Greenland's Coast,

And in my Arms embrac'd my Lass; ( he affects a brooding air, already on Greenland's Coast ...in his hopes...)

(While he is contemplating Greenland, that land of opportunity where Slayers do not roam...Darla rolls her eyes...But gives him a devoted look as he comes over to her, takes her unhidden hand and continues...)

Warm amidst eternal Frost,

Too soon the Half Year's Night would pass.

Darla.

(sighing at him...Continuing to hide her stake behind her back...)

Were I sold on Indian Soil,

Soon as the burning Day was clos'd,

I could mock the sultry Toil

When on my Charmer's Breast repos'd.

(No, I kill him...She just comes after us...Just gotta get him moving, she'll catch up to him soon enough...)

Angelus.

And I would love you all the Day,

(Surely I could convince the Slayer it was Darla who was the real threat...

Offer my services as a sort of vampire hunting assistant...Seeking redemption...)

Darla.

Every Night would kiss and play,

(Touches him fondly...Get moving you moron, she thinks...)

Angelus.

(Moves to the door, pausing for his last long good-bye...)

If with me you'd fondly stray...

(Greenland...? he thinks...I dunno...Eskimos? All that whale meat...?

Perhaps Eastern Europe...Say those idiot Dracule have moved to England I understand...

Transylvania will need a new Vampire Prince...)

Darla.

Over the Hills...and far away.

Together.

And I would love you all the Day

Every Night would kiss and play,

If with me you'd fondly stray...

Over the Hills...and far away...

(She blows a kiss, closing the door on him before he can start another verse...)

Drusilla enters, having just woke...

"Angelus...?"

"Over the hills and far away...Soon I hope..." Darla mutters...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part VII...

Though Chairman of the Council of Watchers Arthur Rathskeller was the generous-hearted man of integrity Watcher Simon Farris took him to be...He was not quite the ineffectual hand-wringer Simon had dismissed him as...

While he had no suspicion of his old and intimately trusted friend, in light of Miss Addams' apparent dereliction of her Duty he had decided to seek additional help in dealing with the threat posed by the Angelus pride...Particularly the strange Miss Drusilla, whose powers, steadily growing with each year, were deemed by several talented and experienced members likely to soon place her in the highest ranks of Evil...

And, apart from the Council's own ranks, of which Rathskeller's dear friend Farris represented the most skilled and experienced, there was one man brilliant, wise, and courageous...Despite his slight frame and advancing years...enough to deal with the threat...

The world's leading expert on vampires and vampirism...Who preferred to keep his independent distance from the Council, but stood ready to provide his skills in Humanity's service against Evil...

Sadly, however...Dr. Abraham Van Helsing was occupied with another vampire...

But, being briefly on hand in London...He was happy to refer his friend to another, equally skilled...

His granddaughter and chief researcher...Miss Willow Rosenberg...

Ok, a bit less experienced, naturally...And perhaps the old man let his pride in his favorite granddaughter influence his evaluation of her skills...But she was the best help at hand...

And a bit miffed to have been left out of Granddad's campaign against the Dracule...

(Ah...Vladimir beamed...Nodding politely at the gentlemanly gesture...

One must give Angelus his due...He does observe the proper forms...And provides that appropriate measure of respect...)

Though she'd grudgingly accepted his insistence that there were other powerful underworlders about who required a watchful eye kept on them...

"I trust, my dear..." Farris eyed Cicely as he concluded their conference in his rooms... "That you will proceed no further in your plans until after tomorrow night...We will have the location of Angelus and his "family" by then and they can be dealt with...Hopefully with minimal risk..."

"I'll do what's necessary, Simon..." she eyed him...Carefully evading an outright lie...

You've learnt a bit, my girl...he thought...Not quite the innocent fool you once were...

Pity you've chosen to throw yourself away...On that unworthy little man...

And to try and lie to me...

But...he thought, smiling at her reassuringly... "I know you will dear..." he nodded at her...

But...I will give you one final chance...he thought...Tomorrow...To come to your senses after that fool of yours is dealt with...

After all...I have quite an investment in you, dear...Foolish to throw it all away without some effort to recover my losses...

While there is always another Slayer...There is only one...Cicely...And I will have you, my pupil...my creation...my own...with me...When I come into my own at last...

Or break you to pieces like a china doll...

"This is a special night for me..." Cicely eyed the large fellow standing by his cab next to the curb by the building in which Henry's rooms were located, as they stood beside each other in the gathering twilight...

I'm to be married tonight...she beamed at him...

Oh...he nodded politely...His hat in hand...

"My congratulations..." he bowed slightly...

And therefore...she paused...

"You have my deepest sympathies...And my prayers for the repose of your poor soul..." she gently smiled as she staked him...

Well...Henry eyed his friend as they rode toward his flat in his carriage...

Well...William nodded back...

"I've followed Cicely's instructions...We'll be going to a small place just outside the City...Very quiet..."

Ah...Walthrop nervously smiled...

"Will...If you have any doubts...The time to back away is now..." Henry looked at him carefully...

"Doubts...None..." Will looked at him...

"Terrors...Many..."

"But...I love her, Henry...And she loves me...And all I can do, in the end...Is give my best..."

"I know what she is giving up in taking me...But I am a good man, Henry...And I will love her...Eternally..."

"I have to...She had it inscribed on our wedding rings..." he smiled wanly...

Eternity is ours...

Henry nodded carefully as they rolled along...

"Have you given any thought as to what you'll do after..."

"Finish my degree as soon as possible...Set to work at the best work I can get...Write...And encourage her art and writing..."

"I see..."

"Suppose..." he paused...

"Suppose I were to tell you that there might be an opening...A small one, at least at first...For a writer/poet/lyricist..."

Lyricist...? Will eyed him...

Yes...Henry nodded...

"Nothing grand in either salary or fame...But it would allow you to continue in your studies and should be good experience for a young man starting out..." he hesitated...

"And a chance to work for the only man in London who could appreciate your use of the word "effulgent"..."

Will blinked...

"He'd like to see you Thursday, Will...At the Savoy..."

"Gilbert...?" Walthrop stared at him...

"I know it's not grand art, Will..."

The W. S. Gilbert? Will blinked again...

"Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan...?"

"An old friend of my father's..." Henry smiled...

"Though he's considering you on merit...Not on my request..."

"Henry..." William beamed...

"Of course you know this can't compare to you're introducing me to Cicely..."

"Well...You will owe me for that for the rest of your life..." Henry grinned...

Aye...Will nodded...

"Always knew helping out a toff would stand me in good stead one day..." he smiled at his friend...

"Depends on the toff..." Henry smiled back...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part VIII...

What a powerful force is love...Even for the vampiral...

The mighty and courageous Angelus had barely made his way into the darkening London streets before his devoted "family" came after him...Determined that his fate should be their own...

(Why am I getting the feeling my brooding friend is leaving something out here? Vladimir thought, sarcastically eyeing Angelus...)

Embracing them tenderly as any human paterfamilias would, he accepted their heartfelt pleas and rejoiced at their reunion...

Their fate would be faced together, he assured them...As they made their way to the new lair he'd secured...

(Moron's gone and led a team from the Council right to us...Darla cursed under her...For human onlookers' consumption...breath...If Dru hadn't sensed them and we hadn't fled, just as the idiot left us...

Not to mention the little worm took all our available money...If he thinks he's gonna scoot off and leave me penniless, hunted, and... "Grandmother, we must stay!...My Prince comes tomorrow!..." Dru wailed as Darla grimly dragged her along...

Leave me with his psycho "daughter" on my hands...

Almost made it...Angelus sighed...Still, something to keep the Slayer busy if she catches up with us...Until I reach the Thames and the first boat I can get on...)

Back at the rooms previously held by the Angelus pride, Wilhelmina "Willow" Rosenberg sighed to Chairman Rathskeller...Who'd felt it his duty to accompany the brave young woman and the team he'd provided to assist her...

"They've eluded us...I would guess our Miss Dru played a role in that..."

"Is this "Drusilla" so dangerous...?" one of the group asked...

"From all accounts...She's rather...Childlike..."

"I can't believe...As opposed to Angelus and Darla, our most feared opponents..." the young man continued...

(Oh, please...Dracula sighed to himself...

I definitely take back what I said about his restraint in self-glorification...)

Ah...Willow beamed within, though maintaining a coolly professional and scientific air...

An opening for me to do Grandpa's favorite line...

"My friend..." she sternly eyed the young Observer who'd spoken...

"The strength of the vampire is that people will not...Believe..."

"She's formidable..." One of the other Council members of the team, a psychic, nodded... "And her power is growing..."

"If only Miss Addams would come to her senses..." Rathskeller shook his head...

"We've never needed her so much as now..."

Hmmn...Yes...Willow nodded... "She would be of assistance..." Eyeing the lair...

She felt some sheets on the bed...Still lukewarm...And...Eehew...she suppressed the urge to cry out...

Bloody...She looked at her fingers...A towel, Miss Rosenberg?...one of the more gallant male members of the team proffered...

God, I'd expect the Angelus pride to have a leetle more pride...Dining in bed?...

She eyed the Chairman...Wiping her hands...

"You're sure Miss Addams is not seeking them herself...?"

Not that we need her of course...Willow, a true Van Helsing descendant, of a long, proud line of fearless human vampire killers, thought...

Still...A little help on my first big job without Grampa...Couldn't hurt...

"Mr. Farris is doing his damn...(Willow eyed Mr. Rathskeller sternly...Proprieties, please, sir...)...er his best to persuade her...But she seemed adamant to him..." the Chairman noted...

All for her young man?...Willow sighed...

Most disappointing...she shook her head...

A poor time for a Slayer to play a fool for love...

"Perhaps it would be best for us to reconvene in the Council's chambers..." Rathskeller noted...

"Mr. Farris was to return there shortly as should our various operatives deployed about town..."

"He can inform us as to his efforts with Miss Addams and the others as to whether the pride has been detected moving about..."

Indeed...Willow nodded...

"Well...Let us hope your Mr. Farris has induced the Slayer to see reason...However, if she is not available I feel certain we shall yet succeed..."

Spoken like a true Van Helsing/Rosenberg...Rathskeller thought gratefully...Thank God old Abraham had a moment to review my note to him before leaving for Romania...

But...He suggested... "Before we continue our hunt..."

"Perhaps it were best we call on the assistance of the Almighty..." the Chairman solemnly noted...

Ummn...Certainly...Willow nodded...Sighing a bit...

They're not gonna ask me to pray to whathisname, are they?...God, Dad is already pissed with me hanging around Catholic Grandpa so much...

"A hymn...?" Arthur suggested...

"Why not...?" Willow mustered a gracious smile...Waving a hand...

"Gentlemen..." the Chairman gathered the team...

Miss Rosenberg...he politely bowed...

She nodded...

The Chairman led the team...

[Play theme..."Stand up for Jesus..."]

"Stand up, stand up for Goodness...We soldiers of the Light...

Lift high the sacred banner...It shall not...Suffer loss...

From Victory onto Victory...These armies shall we le..ad...

Till ev'ry foe is Vanquished...And Light has won the Field..."

(Hmmn, one team member thought...Something...Missing...?)

Why, that was so sweet of him to change the lyrics for me...Willow couldn't resist beaming...

Gramps did say Arthur was a great guy...Very inclusive...

"Excellent, gentlemen...Perhaps now we could..." Willow began...

"Onward Watcher Soldiers...Marching as to War..." Arthur began...

Guys...Evil rampant...Willow thought...Singalong can await the victory...

Still, kind of him to go to all the trouble with the lyric changes...

So...Van Helsing isn't Catholic?...one of the others hissed to his companions as Willow and the

Chairman headed out, the rest of the team dutifully collecting all items of potential interest and removing any trace of vampiral activity from the room...

His part of the family converted some time ago I believe...one quietly noted back...

"With this ring...I thee wed..." William nervously paused...

Eyeing his young sister Amelia, kindly brought up to the little church in haste from the Walthrops' home town of Brusset by Henry for the wedding...

Go on, Will...she beamed at him silently...

"I thee wed...And..." he faltered...

"Endow her with your worldly goods, Will!..." Amelia hissed...

My worldly goods...he sighed...

"And all my worldly goods..." Such as they are, he grinned at Cicely who squeezed his hand in hers... "I thee endow..." he pushed the ring on her finger...

"This is the worldly good I want..." she hissed back...Squeezing hard...

Her turn...And her turn to freeze...

"Cicely..." Henry gently whispered...

Nervously she made her pledge...Pushing the ring on his finger...

(Sings, aside at first...The song becoming a joint wedding vow...)

(Play theme..."All I Ask of You...from Phantom of the Opera...

No more thought of darkness;

Forget these ancient fears.

We're safe,

nothing can harm us -

(She eyes the priest in front of them, intoning the formal pledges...)

These words will warm and calm you.

He will be my freedom,

His light will end all fears.

He's here, with you, beside you,

You'll guard him and you'll hide him...

(Eyes Will...)

Say you'll love me

every waking moment,

turn my head

with talk of summertime

Say you need me with you,

now and always

Promise me

that all you say is true -

that's all I ask of you...

Oh...Let me be your shelter,

You will be my light

We're safe:

No-one will find us -

My fears are far behind us...

All I want is freedom,

a world with no more night

and you,

always beside me,

to hold me and to hide me

Oh say you'll share with me

one love, one lifetime

Darling, save me from my solitude

Say you need me with you here, beside you

Anywhere you go,

let me go too -

William, that's all I ask of you...

(She sings aloud now...He joins...Their joint wedding vows...

Much improved over his previous efforts...she happily notes to herself...)

Together.

All I ask is for one love, one lifetime...

say the word and I will follow you...

Share each day with me,

each night, each morning...

Anywhere you go

let me go too

Love me - that's all I ask of you.

(He's getting better...Amelia grinned to Henry...

Indeed...Henry smiled back...)

!...Drusilla clasped her hands to her head in horror...Rocking from side to side where she stood in the middle of the rather busy, if darkened, street...

Even within her...Her trapped counterpart sensed the slipping away of her only hope of rescue...Or at least, of comfort...

"Drusilla!..." Darla turned back to her, furious...

My daughter is a delicate, frail creature...Easily upset...Angelus smilingly explained to several well-meaning, concerned passers-by...

"She is taking My Prince!..." Dru screamed...Hand to mouth...

"Drusilla..." Angelus exerted his gentle but firm paternal hand...

(And socked her with it, no doubt...Vladimir and Willie noted to themselves...)

"We must get to our new home, lass..."

And out of this damned street before more Watchers or the Slayer appear...he thought...

"She lied to me!...The fairy mother lied!...That one is taking him!..." Dru wailed...

Back to the fairy godmother...Darla sighed, rolling her eyes...

Not yet dear...All's not lost...A voice whispered to Dru within...And to her trapped "sister"...

Tomorrow night, remember...Haly's voice continued...

"I will come to you..."

"You swear, Lady?..." Dru called to the open air...

"Who the hell is she talking to?..." Angelus hissed to Darla...Who shrugged...

"Who the hell is she ever talking to...?" she replied...

"Just thank the Master she's quieting down..."

"He is mine...Forever?..."

No...No...the faint cry of the trapped one within...

God forgive me, sir...

"Forever..." Haly's voice whispered back, drifting on the wind...

"Be true, Lady..." Dru hissed...

Sings...With a grim fierceness, new to her... (end of All I Ask of You...From Phantom of the Opera, see above cut and paste address)

"You will curse the day you should not do!...

All that you promised me you'd..."

"Drusilla!..." Darla grabbed her and lifted her up...

"No...More...Singing!..."

"Understand?..."

"Yes, Grandmother..."

In the small church, Cicely and Will looked nervously at each other as Amelia, Henry, and the priest offered congratulations...

We can do this...she told herself, smiling at him and clasping her hands in his...

The door blew open...

"You cannot protect him...He is Mine..." A voice floated to Cicely on the wind...

The candles on the altar began flickering gently, then strongly...

Forever...Dru's gentle laughter faintly lingering...

"Dear heart...?" Will stared at his bride...Looking at him in terror...

"Cicely...?" Henry looked at her...

They are coming...For him...As Simon told me they would...

Oh, God...What have I done...? she thought, trembling...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part IX...

There is nothing so valuable...Simon Farris noted to himself as he entered the massive Antiquarians Hall, home to the Royal Council of Librarians and Antiquarians...As holding the confident and complete trust and regard of one's peers, superiors...And...Pupils...

A status which he himself had earned with years of diligent service and support...

Capital not to be squandered too lightly...Particularly with regard to Miss Addams...

No...he corrected bitterly, glancing out the large windows of the Hall's main foyer...

By now, Mrs. Walthrop...

However...A change of name is a minor matter, easily rectified...

What's in a name...?

And the heart...Especially that of a foolish young woman...Soon forgets its trivial wanderings and flirtations...

No, in spite of his arrangements with Halfreck, agent of demon lord D'Hoffryn...Farris still harbored the faint hope of getting Cicely to see reason...Once what's-his-damned-name was dealt with...And take her proper place on the throne beside him...

Of course that might antagonize Lord D'Hoffryn, a rather formidable foe, but it should be an easy

matter to hold the mighty demon off with promises until as Chairman Farris he could rally the full Council and Slayer against this menace...And use the secret powers hidden in the Council's darkest recesses...

After all, destruction the Lord of Vengeance Demons was surely a worthy challenge for Council and Slayer...

In the Chairman's apartments, he found Rathskeller, several Council members of Observer status, and Miss Wilhemina Rosenberg, known to him slightly from previous encounters with Abraham Van Helsing...

Seeking help from the competition, Arthur?...he thought, as he smilingly greeted the group and shook hands with Willow...

Bit unseemly...The Van Helsing group's methods were so unorthodox...And while the good doctor was willing to share information on his "clients", he was somewhat suspicious of both certain Council members and the group as a whole in terms of their ultimate use of the powers they were acquiring in the course of their work...

In Professor Van Helsing's opinion...Certain past Chairmen...And some present members...Often seemed less interested in protecting Humanity and giving peace to the condemned than in gaining knowledge of the dark powers...

For its part, as a general policy, the Council discouraged such independent efforts...Sometimes with extreme prejudice...However, Rathskeller was something of a liberal on such matters and had encouraged contacts with outsiders, especially his old friend Abraham who'd assisted him as a young Observer on several occasions...

All fighting for the same goal and all that...Farris mentally quoted his dear, soft-headed Chairman as he sat...

To allow that little old fool to have the glory of the Dracula hunt, now in progress...He beamed at Willow, now outlining what they'd found in the old nest...As Rathskeller ordered all information on the Angelus pride, particularly, Drusilla brought up to them...

Well, at least it meant he'd only have to deal with the little granddaughter for now...Keep her and the rest off the track until the little nobody (what was his damned name?) was disposed of...

And things would be different when he took the chair...

As a Conservative Watcher, Farris objected to independent vampire hunters like Van Helsing and Rosenberg on principle...

The principle of consolidation of power...In his own hands...

Cicely seemed a bit withdrawn as the ceremony ended...Except for nearly crushing her new husband with an embrace of rather startling force...

Sorry...she released him...

"Alright, sweetheart...?"

Hmmn...Amazing...Will thought, waving a hand...Fine, fine...As he gasped for breath...

Just like the time she threw me across her back garden with one blow...

Well...They say the fairer sex has hidden strength...

He and Henry noticed she seemed rather quiet as they accepted the priest's congratulations and headed back for their carriage...A dinner awaiting them arranged by Best Man/He Who Gaveth the Bride Henry...

"Lost in contemplation of your new state, Mrs. W...?" Henry smiled at her as Amelia pulled Will away a moment...

She smiled a wan smile back...And seemed to be hesitating...As if reaching a decision...Henry noted to himself...

What have I done?...What can I do...?

They know who I am...They know who he is...And this pride is famous for attacking those dearest to their hunters...Mr. Farris having given her quite a detailed outline of their past history...

I have three choices...She thought...Looking ahead to where Amelia was excitedly talking to her brother...

Destroy the pride tonight...If I can...Since Will and I can't be together until we leave tomorrow night after the family's party...Possible but difficult...I will have to see what Simon has learned...

But they may not even have been located yet...

Or...

Run...Now...Tell William everything or at least enough to make him agree...And run...

But...Abandon London to these creatures...Knowing that they know who I am and may know where my family lives...? And always knowing they may choose to come after us in the end...

Or...

Make him leave me...Drive him away...In the hopes that he'll be safe until I destroy the pride...If I succeed...I can try and explain it to him...If he doesn't accept it or I die...At least he'll be safe...

But...How can I drive him away?...How could I bear it, even to save him...? He'd see I was lying no matter how hard I'd try...And refuse to leave...Try to find out what was really going on...

He's a determined fellow that way...she thought proudly...No obstacle stops him...Unless it kills him...

And even then...

Like the day I tossed him across the back garden for his rudeness... Telling me he was going..."Out for a walk,...b..."...God...

And he picked his startled self up, brushed his one good suit off...Congratulated me on my amazing agility...Apologized...And telling me to forgive his being angry at a world that would never allow him to even consider approaching me...Left me...With my jaw hanging...

And was back the next day...Ostensibly to see Henry as always...In reality to see if I had any answer for his suit...She couldn't keep the smile from coming to her lips...Yes...

The world might never allow it...But he had the slightest impression...I might...

"Gilbert and Sullivan?...The ones who wrote Pinafore?..."

Amelia Walthrop was eagerly quizzing her brother at the restaurant where Henry'd taken them...

Will nodded but his attention was on his bride, who seemed lost in thought...

Though she picked up a bit at hearing of her hubby's potential position with the most popular figures on the current London theater scene...

Sweet Henry, she smiled at him a moment...

Not that her William wouldn't make it under any circumstances under his own steam, as he always had...Just sweet of Henry to smooth things a little...Heck someone had had to introduce Gilbert and Sullivan to each other...

Now if only Mr. Farris would help her introduce Angelus and family to the sharp end of her favorite stake... "Dickens"...For its biting edge...Like Mr. D's...

"Cicely...?" Will slid over closer to her on the booth bench...And took her hand...

"All well?..." he eyed her...A bit nervous...

She nodded, kissing him...

"Just wishing we could be together tonight..." she whispered in his ear...

"Why not...?" he whispered back, eager to junk her previously insisted upon plan of staying at her home...On this night of all nights...And just to keep gossip down by attending the final family party of this social season...

"Lets forget everything and go to Henry's...Tonight...Then find a place near Cambridge tomorrow..."

"I can't leave until after tomorrow night, it would embarrass Papa too much...We mustn't implicate Henry any further...And you'll have to make proper arrangements for us, we can't just waltz into any town together...Like a couple of lovers on the run..." she noted, eyeing him with a smile at the last...

Lovers...Amelia sighed to Henry, watching them whisper...

She having no questions in her mind that her brother was eminently worthy of anyone, including the oft-mentioned (Amelia being an avid reader of the society pages of the Times) Miss Cicely Addams...

"All right...But after tonight...Always..." Will whispered back...

"Always..." she squeezed his hand...

"After all, dearest... 'Eternity is ours'.." he smiled at her...Speaking aloud now...

"Just telling her how much I liked the inscription on the rings..." he grinned at Henry and Amelia...

"Eternity is ours..." she repeated...Nodding...

No...I could never send him away...If it was death to him to stay, I couldn't do it...I must get to Simon, destroy the pride...Or run with Will tonight...

The new lair passing Darla's inspection, the reunited Angelus clan was off and about its nightly rounds...Cautiously...

Not too successful a hunt given the elders' nervousness...Looking for Watchers and Observers in every corner...Except, sadly, the right ones...And with Drusilla's attention rather distracted...

The Lady must tell true...She must...But He is taken...The Other has taken him...she moaned to herself...As Darla furiously dragged her slow-moving granddaughter along the street...

What a way to hunt humans...she sighed...

"Angelus..." she called...

"Dru's of no help tonight...I'll take her home and join you later..."

Join me later...he thought contentedly...

Difficult to do once I'm off on a boat for France...Or perhaps America...Another land of opportunity where an English Slayer is not all that likely to appear...

For the sake of my loved ones' safety, of course...

"Sounds like a good idea, dearest..." he beamed at Darla...Who frowned, narrow-eyed at him...

Finding it too unbearable to leave her beloved to face destruction, the loving Darla considered an alternate plan...

(He's much too eager on this, he's got something up his sleeve, she realized...Probably means to run out on us...Damn you...If you think I'm letting you out of my sight...With Dru on my hands...?)

"Perhaps it's not such a good idea..." she pondered, glaring at him...

Dru's likely to make noise and attract attention to the new place if she's left alone...

"Dru...Would you like to stay with Father here while I go about my business...?" she eyed Dru...

Hmm-hmmn...she beamed at Angelus...Eager to tell him about the fairy lady's promise...

Oh...God...Angelus sighed...As Darla hastily disengaged Dru's clutching hand from hers to his and raced off...

(So much for my escape from this Hell on Earth...)

I am not to be allowed to save my poor little family from danger, it seems...The noble vampire prince sorrowed...

I had to be a father...

"Angelus...A fairy princess came to me..." Dru began...

Yes, yes...he sighed...

(Well, at least I avoid hunting for a night...And Darla always gets...Someone...)

Tomorrow night she said...I must wait till tomorrow...We must wait, sister...Dru called within to her trapped soul...

A vague and incoherent cry from within...

You mustn't lie to me, sister...Dru chucked to herself...I know you want him as much as I do...

He is calling to you, too...

A cheery-looking tavern down the street recommended itself to the mighty Angelus as a suitable waiting spot...Excellent for reconnoitering the local area for signs of Watcher activity...Despite the grave risk of detection, he decided to take the chance...In hopes of assuring his dear ones' safety...

"Come along, my dear..." he led Dru down the street...As she continued to whine faintly about her Prince...Who was coming...Tomorrow...

Well, he noted...Perhaps your Prince waits in the fairy castle over there...he pointed to the tavern...

(He left Darla to hunt on her own in the presence of Watchers and the Slayer and went carousing while he baby-sat his "daughter"...No doubt planning to throw her at the first Watcher or Slayer rearing a head...Vladimir noted to himself...

No great surprise there...)

The scouts sent out by the Chairman having failed to provide any useful information to Rathskeller's and Miss Rosenberg's group...And the others, with useful information, being Simon's own agents likewise on his secret order offering nothing on the Angelus pride's new lair...The meeting broke up with plans to reconvene tomorrow afternoon and Farris returned to his own rooms...

Where he would prepare for Miss Addams'...er Mrs. What's-his-fool-name?'s return...

Willow and the Chairman both having urged him to again press Miss Addams to see her Duty and assist them, he had every intention of carrying out their wishes...

Just not quite in the way they expected...Having as he did, definite information as to the new lair of the Angelus "family"...

Back in his rooms, eyeing himself in a mirror, Farris sang blithely...

(This is from Polly, the banned sequel to "The Beggar's Opera" by John Gay)

"In pimps and politicians

The genius is the same;

Both raise their own conditions

On others guilt and shame:

With a tongue well-tipt with lyes

Each the want of part supplies

And with a heart that's all disguise,

Keeps his schemes unknown.

Seducing as the devil,

They play the tempter's part,

And have, when most they're civil

Most mischief in their heart.

Each a secret commerce drives,

First corrupts and then connives

And by his neighbours vices thrives

For they are all his own.

And by his neighbours vices...Thrives (high note)

For they...Are all his own."

A knock at his door...Dear Cicely's...

He let her in...She rushed in...Staring at him...

"I apologize for coming so late without notice, Simon..."

He nodded...Waving at a chair...

"Have you got any new information?..." she asked...

"We do..." he paused, eyeing her...Ring on her finger...Though she'd managed to change her clothes...

"I see congratulations are in order..." he smiled at her...

She started a moment then smiled...The ring...

"I forgot to take it off..." she murmured...And removed it gently, putting it in her pocket "I'm sorry you couldn't be there...We kept it very small..."

"I would have made a most reluctant guest, my dear..." he noted...

"I cannot approve of what you've done, Cicely...You know that..."

"You've foolishly endangered this man and all those you might have saved in the future with my...and the Council's help..."

"I'll still be a Slayer, Simon..." she frowned at him...

"Just not at the beck and call of the Council...And not in London..."

"Or England, perhaps...?" he looked away...

"Perhaps..." she looked at him...

"It might be best if we left...After he's taken his degree...And you've said there was some danger to the sealed Hellmouth portal in America..."

Hmmn...She'd remembered that...But that was a project for after he had secured the

Chairmanship...To find the sealed portal by making use of ole Heinrich Nast, the self-proclaimed "Master" of vampires, the first to challenge old Dracula for top spot in many centuries, who was known to be seeking the portal himself with knowledge acquired from many enemies human and demonic...To locate the thing and then, after destroying the "Master"...Utilize its powers himself...

"Aren't you happy for me, Simon...?" she came over to him...Kneeling at his chair...

"Next to my Papa, you're the one person in the world I am saddened to hurt over this..." she began...

"If you could just..."

"You are a fool, girl!..." he raged...His self control slipping in her immediate presence...Knowing that he had lost her, must destroy her...

And still...Wanting her...

He rose...

"Throwing yourself away on the first fool with a smile and a clever word...A nobody...God, you silly fool...You were made for a king...!"

"I don't want a king...I want William..." she replied coldly...Rising as well...

"And I want freedom..."

Maybe from you, too...she thought...Staring at him...

Made...And he my Maker?...In his own mind, at least...

No...Simon is just concerned for me...As always...

He got hold of himself...

"I apologize, my dear...Your happiness is all that matters to me...But, I fear you will not be happy in the end, abandoning your work and your Duty..."

"I am not abandoning my Duty, Simon...I have told you that...And that is why I am here..."

"Yet you haven't told your...Husband...About that work..." he pointed out...

"Do you intend to...?" he leaned against a bust of Caesar...The one luxury of a kind he'd allowed himself in his rooms besides the volumes necessary for his research...

"When the time's right...And I will decide for myself when that is..."

He stared at her a long moment...Weighing something in his mind...

Somehow...For the first time since she'd first met him, when her governess...A Council agent...Had taken her to see him for an initial evaluation at 13...And he'd coldly eyed the frightened young girl, destined to become his special charge and pride...She was terrified...

Back then she'd whole-heartedly believed they would kill her if she didn't pass their tests...Not entirely a false assumption at the time...But one that had vanished under Simon's kindness and praise...His exhortations to make the most of what God had given her for the service of Humanity...His portrayal in vivid tones of the fight between Dark and Light she had been called to...

Her pride and, to be honest, arrogance, in having a special calling that raised her above the fools she dealt with in the trivial social whirl she managed so deftly...

No mere butterfly was she...No mere human in fact...And Farris had stroked that ego for many years...

Indeed he'd done his clever best to fill the gap in her life that the death of her mother and her father's inability to express his love outside his domineering pride in her...And his watchfulness...had left...Until he'd become a third parent to her...One whose efforts had saved her many a time...

But now...She was that terrified child again...Gazing into the eyes of a cold and calculating "parent" who she somehow knew...Would kill her if she failed his tests...

He relaxed a bit...Smiling at her...And she brushed the fear from her mind...

"You have always known your own mind, dear..." he nodded...

And...There always is another Slayer...he did not say...

"Well...To the matter at hand..."

Shortly after Cicely had left, armed with the address of the new lair...He summoned Haly again...

"You've sent her?..." the demon, now in the same clothes Cicely had worn a few moments before asked him...

"She's off to the pride's new lair..." he nodded...

"Aren't you risking a great deal giving her such information?...Are you so sure she won't encounter them...And defeat or be defeated by them...Tonight?..."

"We must have her believing I am doing all I can in her behalf...The rest, my dear...Is up to you and your Lord, as we agreed..." Farris eyed Halfreck...

"If you want her in that state of despair that might lead her to accept D'Hoffryn's offer...You must see she lives and does not destroy our dear Drusilla tonight..."

"However, I intend to put my best efforts into the scales..." he waved an airy hand...

"My dearest charge is in deadly danger and I fully intend to go to her assistance..."

Haly frowned...A lot being put on her in this deal...Still one item was fairly secure...

"Drusilla is out with the others...The lair is empty for now..."

"Then all you must do is see they do not return...This night...While I arrange the final piece in our puzzle..."

"Dear Cicely must be made to see the danger abandoning her duty places her family in..." he smiled...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part X..

So...? William regarded his sister as they rode back to their home town on the train, Henry having seen them off...Will to return by the last train that night...

"I think she'll do..." Amelia noted solemnly...

"Bit more to her than fluff and feathers..." she grinned...

"Mum would have taken to her..." she passed judgment...

Thank you, sis...he nodded with a grateful smile...

However...she frowned...

"She wouldn't have approved of a secret marriage, kept from Cicely's father...And whatever else you two may have been up to..."

He eyed her as the train clanked along toward their dreary factory town of Brusset...What vegetation there had been outside the window, rapidly fading away to drab heaps of slag and other mine waste...

"All right...Perhaps..." she confessed, sighing...

Yeah...Mum would've let the secret wedding pass...Being of a practical nature...And as a lifelong servant/factory laborer well aware of the potential dangers in their relationship...

"But anything else...She would've frowned upon..."

The lair had definitely been occupied recently...Simon's information had not been wrong...Cicely scanned the rooms of the old warehouse with the care of many years' experience...

But as to the pride itself, not a whisper...

She strode the main warehouse nervously fretting, old "Dickens" at the ready...If they had caught on to Simon's agents and fled...She'd never catch them tonight...

Having brought Will and Amelia to their train, Henry had paused by his club where he'd decided to perform a hard task...But one that he felt should be performed by a friend...

"Ah...Jonathan..." he smiled at Levinson, deeply engrossed in some reading in a comfortable chair by the main fireplace...

Henry...Jonathan nodded...Rising with a slight bow to his friend...

"And how is our Cicely this evening?...She must be anxious to have the last formal party of the season over and done with..."

Indeed...Henry took a chair beside his friend...Nodding at a waiter for his usual pipe and tea...

"She looked very tired, Henry..." Levinson noted...Genuine concern in his voice...

"I think she'll be able to rest a bit after tomorrow night..." Henry sighed a bit...

Jonathan...he paused...

"I'm afraid I have some rather hard news for you..."

"Walthrop?..." Levinson smiled wanly...

"I already knew, my friend..." he shook his head...

"Cicely wasn't very good at concealing it... "

"Is she happy?..."

"I believe so..." Henry nodded... "Yes..."

"Though she hated the thought of hurting anyone else...Especially you..."

"She does mean to tell you herself, but I thought it might be well to prepare you..."

"They'll be having some trouble...At the outset in any case..." Jonathan frowned...

"Well...Tell her...Anything I can do to smooth matters over...Anything I can do regards...Anything..." He waved a resigned hand...

"She has only to ask...Or you to let me know..."

"You're a noble fellow, Jonathan...She will be glad of your support and friendship..."

"Not all that noble, Henry..." Levinson grinned wryly...

"This fellow may yet slip up and I'd as soon remain in Cicely's good graces just in case..."

Henry chuckled a bit, patting his shoulder...

"No one better should Will fail..."

My God...Jonathan eyed him...

"They've already married, haven't they...?"

Yes...Henry sighed...

"Just this evening..."

"Our Cicely's a girl who knows what she wants and goes for it..." he smiled...

Amen...Jonathan nodded...Shaking his head and putting his hands to his chin in thought...

Oh...Cicely...Be good to her, William...

A club steward came up to them...Bearing a note for Henry...

"Nothing serious?..." Jonathan looked at his friend...

"I think not..." Henry stared at the note...

"But..."

"It's from Cicely's historian friend...Mr. Farris, of all people..."

"Simon Farris...?" Jonathan frowned...

Pestering chap that...he thought...Always after Cicely about something he has to sell or some project he wants her to consider funding...

And rather arrogant about it at that...Seems to expect her to run off to his place whenever he calls on her...She's much too tolerant of him...

Not to mention...Levinson being among the most perceptive of men...The fellow has some interest in her outside his work and business...

"He wants to see me...Immediately...At his rooms...Something about Cicely..."

Henry pondered...

"You know, Jonathan...There's some strange tie between Cicely and Farris...I've done a number of errands for her on his behalf over the years and there's more than a joint love of history between them..."

Levinson stared...

"You don't think...?"

"My cousin has a side she refuses to share with anyone...And I have worried if I've been right to simply accept it...Do the things she's asked without questioning her too closely...Somehow feeling it best to avoid having her break with me entirely..."

"And Farris is in no small part the key to that hidden life...Though I don't believe it anything dishonorable...I trust in Cicely..." he noted sternly eyeing his friend...

"Perhaps we should pay a call on Mr. Farris..." Jonathan looked at Henry... "See what the matter is...And that the man is not attempting anything that might spoil her happiness..."

"If you wouldn't mind my company..."

"I'd appreciate it, old fellow..." Henry smiled...

"Levinson?...Foxcroft...?..." a jovial Andrew Fowler entered the club room in hearty good cheer...Natural enough given the cordial treatment Cicely had given him that afternoon...

"What are you fellows about this fine evening...?"

"So you see gentlemen..." Farris eyed the three who appeared at his door a short time before...Foxcroft, Cicely's cousin...and his companions, Jonathan and an Andrew who'd insisted on following along despite their efforts to discourage him...

"While I am pledged not to divulge everything, our Miss Addams is obviously in serious danger...And not willing to take proper care...Which is why I requested your assistance Mr. Foxcroft..."

"But..." Henry stared at the older man...

"Why she should feel compelled to confront these people...If they are as dangerous as you suggest?"

"They are...Lunatics...Foxcroft...And Cicely has always had a special gift, one she's kept secret from you and the rest of her family, for dealing with such people...Our real work together for many years has been dealing with such troubled folk...She naturally wishing to keep her work a secret to spare her family concern..."

"But now she feels she must attend to this group...Before..." Simon paused noting Foxcroft eyeing him carefully...

"Before other events in her life force her to abandon the work..." the Watcher finished...

Hmmn...Henry frowned...Somehow I cannot see Simon Farris as a compassionate caretaker of

London's mentally ill...Still, he stared at Farris...I do believe she's in danger...

Cicely works with looneys?...Fowler wondered to himself...Well, compassionate lady and all that...Quite understandable if one considers the matter...Noble girl, that...

"And you, sir...?" Jonathan stared at Farris...

"You let her go after these people...Violent lunatics...Alone...?"

"Under normal circumstances, Miss Addams is quite capable in her work and has my staff's support...But this time she refused to be ruled by me...And I have alerted my people to watch out for her..." he replied smoothly...

"Indeed I am about to go out myself...But thought Mr. Foxcroft here might be of considerably more use than me...Both as Cicely's dearest friend and cousin...And as a strong young man well able to help restrain these people..."

Had no idea Foxcroft'd bring two idiots with him...But all the better...More for dear Cicely to worry about...

"Well, shall we go gentlemen or shall I go alone?...Time is a-wasting..."

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my

"Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XI...

"So...Levinson..." Andrew eyed Jonathan as they began poking around the warehouse Cicely's Farris fellow had led them and Foxcroft to...

"Just what is Cicely supposed to be doing here...?" He eyed the rather large, darkened floor area, stretching off in rows between huge stacked crates...

"Are her looneys hiding about somewhere in here?..."

"I believe so..." Jonathan nodded...

"Damned fine girl that Cicely..." Fowler shook his head... "Out here for poor old looneys like this..."

"Brave and good-heart and all that..."

Indeed...Jonathan smiled...

"But good of you to come as well old fellow..." he noted...Peering into a long, seemingly endless corridor...

"Naturally, naturally..." Andrew beamed...

"Cicely and I are rather close to an understanding after all..." he smiled...Tapping a crate with his cane...In case the looneys had chosen to hide in one...he explained...

Ah...Levinson nodded...

"Perhaps we should rejoin Henry and Mr. Farris..."

"Stand!..." Came a sharp cry...A lantern shining at them...Someone rushing up at startling speed...

"Mr. Levinson?..." Cicely stared at Jonathan, blinking, a sharp wooden...Stake? Jonathan wondered...In hand...Now standing just four or five feet in front of him and Andrew...

"What the devil are you...?"

"Hello there, Miss Addams..." Andrew called cheerily...

"Find your lunatics yet?..."

"Mr. Fowler...?"

"Yes..." Angelus sighed to his new-found bosom companions as they sat at a tavern bench, happily downing yet another round...As several eyed their new mate's sadly addled companion...Now sighing to herself in a corner...

"My daughter...A sad case, lads...Deranged from her birth..."

Aye...One shook his head in drunken sympathy...

"Such a game little thing, too..." he paused, seeing the others look at him...

Er...No offense, sir...he apologized to their new mate, a fine fellow, all the regulars had agreed...

Particularly after he'd purchased several rounds for the house...Courtesy a deceased customer, now rotting slowly in the tavern cellar...And the last of dear Darla's carefully hoarded funds...

"None taken..." Angelus smiled, a friendly off-hand wave...

"My Prince is trying to fly his cage..." Dru wanly informed a patron passing her...Who patted her kindly, unknowingly saving his life...

"Drusilla..." Angelus called...Sensing potential trouble...

"Remember what I said...No bothering the gentlemen in here, my lass..."

"I was only telling the kind man..." she beamed at the bar-bound patron... "About my Prince..."

Yes...Well...Angelus sighed...

"Just sit quietly until it's time to leave...Your Prince will be pleased at your good behavior..."

"Another round, lads?..." he beamed at his companions...

"Mr. Farris was wrong to involve you gentlemen in this..." Cicely grimly frowned at Simon...Who, with Henry, had just joined the group at the back of the warehouse building Angelus had hoped to make a secure haven for his little "family"...

"I felt the situation required additional assistance, Miss Addams..." Farris eyed her...

"And there was no time to call in our usual helpers..."

"Cicely..." Henry addressed her, but watched both...Definitely something more going on here, he realized...

"I appreciate your self-sacrificing nature...And the work of helping these poor insane wretches sounds laudable...But surely you can't expect to capture these people on your own..."

"I've dealt with such many times in the past, Henry...These are nothing new to me..."

"But circumstances have changed for you, Cicely..." he noted quietly...

She glared at him but held her tongue...

"We're only here to assist you, Miss Addams..." Jonathan put in his bit...

"Anything that we can do to help...Without hindering you...We will do..."

"Thank you, Mr. Levinson..." she nodded...Calming a bit...

"I appreciate your kindness...And yours, Mr. Fowler..."(Andrew beaming jovially)... "However it does seem as if my "patients" have fled the place..." she sighed...

"Perhaps...While I consult with Mr. Farris...You, Henry, and Mr. Fowler would be so kind as to make a quick circuit of the rows?...In case I missed one in hiding or they left an indication of where they were going behind them?..."

She eyed Simon coolly...

"Certainly, Miss Addams..." Jonathan bowed slightly...

"Andrew?...Henry?..." They headed down the corridor in front of them...Holding the lantern Farris had thoughtfully brought along...

"Simon...!" she hissed at her Watcher, looking at Jonathan's rapidly fading lantern...An imperturbable expression barely readable on his face in her own flickering lantern light...

"How dare you bring them here...? What were you thinking?..."

"When you left my rooms so angrily, my dear...I feared for your concentration on the task at hand...My own staff was too difficult to reach, out on the streets as they are..."

"I'm perfectly fine...There was no need to break protocol...Why would you do such a thing?..."

"As your dear Henry noted, my dear...Circumstances have changed..."

"I want you to live past your wedding night, my girl..." he sighed...

She stared and relaxed...But still couldn't see his face clearly...

"Simon...I appreciate your concern...And your kindness...But if you had to come at all...?"

"Why didn't you request assistance from the Council itself?...Henry and the others have no training, no knowledge...?"

"The Chairman..." Simon sighed...

"Has refused to allow you to call on any resources of the Council...Unless and until you rethink your decision...All I can rely on are my own immediate staff..."

"I am sorry, my girl...I should not have told Arthur of your decision...Forgive me..."

She waved a hand...

"Nothing I didn't expect, Simon...I knew they'd consider me unworthy when they learned of my actions..."

"But why did you have to involve poor Henry...And the others?..." she repeated, looking over at him...

"They were all I had at hand, dear...And I knew Foxcroft would come without pause..."

"As for the other gentlemen...Apparently you attract brave gentlemen, girl..."

"Foolhardy gentlemen, you mean..." she glared...

"Thank God the pride seems to have abandoned the place..."

A crash from the front of the warehouse...They jumped, she tensing, ready for a frantic rush...

"Nothing to be concerned about!..." Andrew's voice boomed cheerfully...

"Fraid I knocked over a crate with my cane!..." he called...

"No goods or looneys damaged...!"

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XII...

"Well, Amelia..." William looked at his sister as they stood on his London return train platform, his young brother Philip now beside her to bring her to their home with their uncle and aunt in Brusset...

"Thanks for coming tonight...I appreciated it, sister..."

"It was a lovely time, Will..." she smiled, the great secret still to be kept for a few days yet...

"Can't you stay the night, Will?..." Philip asked, a bit annoyed to have been left out of his older sister's excursion to London...

"Not tonight, lad...But you'll be coming to see me at Cambridge next weekend..."

"And I may have a thing or two to show you both..." he grinned at Amelia...

Boarding whistle...

"Must go..." he hugged Philip, then shook hands...

"Watch your sister...Always...And mind her..." he eyed the boy...

"And Phil...?"

"Don't forget my letter to you last week...Don't let go of the romantic in life...Even if we have a rough way to go, you and I and sis are as entitled to the beauty as anyone...Understand?..."

He nodded...

"Bye, Will..." Amelia crushed him...

"I love her..." she whispered...

"Be happy..."

"I will...And you will too..." he whispered back, kissing her...

And breaking loose, raced for his train...

"So..." Philip took his sister's bags...Leading her back to their uncle's cart...

"Had us a good time in London?..." he smiled...

"Very good time..." she nodded...

"Next time for you Phil..." she noted...

"Unc will let you go by then...A man of thirteen next month..."

"Hope so...Be jolly to tour London with Will..."

"Aye...Is a jolly town she is..." Amelia grinned...

"Will...Seein' any girls...?" Phil asked slyly...As they left the station and neared the cart outside...

"Aye..."

"She's quite a one, too..."

"Oh?..." he lifted her bags into the cart...Mostly gifts from Will...

"Aye...But...You'll see her soon enough..." Amelia smiled...

"Seein' Will at Cambridge, is she?...A forward lass..." Phil frowned...

"That she is...But..." Amelia hastily added... "Not a bad one..."

"We'll see..." Philip noted solemnly...

"Will lose his head over her?..." he asked...

Aye...Amelia nodded, smiling...

"Easy to see, though...A beauty, Philip..."

"Like an angel, she is..." Amelia sighed...

Hmmn...he shook his head...

"Bit too romantic is our Will..."

"Well, gentlemen..." Cicely frowned...

"I appreciate your kind efforts but it seems our quarry has chosen to find other lodgings this night...And the hour is getting rather late..."

"Yes, my friends..." Simon agreed...

"We've done about all we can...Let me just consult with Miss Addams a moment and we can head home..."

"I'll bring you home, Cicely..." Henry told her...

"I have a carriage, thank you, dear..." she replied...

"I see..." he stared at her...

"Well, Levinson...Fowler...Shall I see you both off...? You may take my carriage...Cicely will drive me home..." Henry smiled blandly back at her glaring face...

"Back in a moment, my dear..." Ushering Jonathan and Andrew out...

She turned to Farris...

"The pride wasn't near...And haven't been at home tonight...Now, thanks to your brilliant idea of bringing Henry I can't even wait here for them..."

"My dear...I am sorry...But let me stay...I can find a secure place to watch for the "family" Angelus' return...At least we'd know they were still here..."

"I am leaving London tonight, Simon..." she told him firmly...

"Immediately after tonight's party...I'm sorry...But that's the way it is..."

"After William and I are settled near Cambridge...I will try to return and deal with these creatures if the Council's efforts fail..."

"I see..." Farris nodded...

"Well...You must do as your heart tells you, dear child...Perhaps it's time we of the Council did our share of the fighting...And dying..."

"I'm not abandoning my Duty, Simon...I will return as soon as I can to help you..."

She looked at her Watcher...His face impassive in the lantern light...

"Don't stay here, Simon...I couldn't bear it if you were hurt..."

"Someone must..." he sighed...

"We must know where the pride is...And what they are up to..."

Besides...he smiled...

"I'll merely be Watching...And that is my job, dear..."

Henry returned...Seeing Cicely nervously staring at Farris...

"Henry...?" she looked over at him...

"Are they off all right?..."

"Yes..."

"Dear...Would you go and send the carriage back for me in a few hours...After daybreak?..." she looked at him...

"No...dearest girl..." Henry sighed...

"I will not leave you here..."

She frowned at him...

"I have done this many times, Henry...I'm in no danger..."

"Then neither will I be..."

Very well...she grimaced...

"Stay if you must...But keep near me...And be as quiet as you can...I want to make a quick circuit outside the building..."

As the noble Angelus carefully guarded his powerful, but tragically "troubled" (... "tragically troubled"...! Vladimir choked...He drove her insane and murdered her!...) and fragile "daughter"...His devoted mate continued her efforts on the great City of London's streets...

(It's just like him...Darla bitterly noted to the unconscious woman she was dragging back to the new lair, a prostitute she'd caught in among the dark alleyways...

Leaving me to do the hunt...While he sits and no doubt spends everything we have at the nearest tavern...

"Still..." she reflected...Pulling her companion into a corner as several strollers past by on the dank street...

"I did tell him to stay...I must admit tonight at least I did ask for it..."

As you did, too...Dear...she smiled to the woman...Who stirred feebly...But quickly fell silent as Darla sank fangs into her wrist...Taking just enough to deepen her new acquaintance's sleep...)

Having achieved success in her hunt, Darla hastened to deposit her victim at the new lair...So impatient was her loving heart to rejoin her mate and family...

Little knowing the deadly danger awaiting her in the form of Cicely the Vampire Slayer, just emerging from their new home, with her anxious cousin in tow...A gentleman almost as noble as the mighty Angelus himself in his determined desire to see that his beloved cousin rejoin her new husband safely...

"Dear girl..." Halfreck smiled at Drusilla, standing before her in the smoke-filled, noisy tavern...Where Angelus, good-hearted gentleman that he was...Underneath the killer vampire...Was now heartily engaged in the rituals of generous companionship with his fellow creatures...

Angelus and the tavern company sing...(rather drunkenly...)

(from the Beggar's Opera...

"Once I Loved a Lass...

The week before Easter, the day being fair

The sun shining brightly, cold frost in the air

I went into the forest some flowers to find there

And there I did pick my love a posy.

O I loved a lass and I loved her so well

I hated all others who spoke of her ill

But now she's rewarded me well for my love

For she's gone and she's married another.

When I saw my love to the church go

With bridesmen and bridesmaids she made a fine show

And I followed on with my heart full of woe

To see my love wed to another.

The parson who married them aloud he did cry

All that forbid it I'd have you draw nigh

Thought I to myself I'd have a good reason why

Though I had not the heart to forbid it.

And when I saw my love sit down to meat

I sat down beside her but nothing could eat

I thought her sweet company better than meat

Although she was tied to another.

And when the bridesmaidens had dressed her for bed

I stepped in amongst them and kissed the bride

And wished that I could have been laid by her side

And by that means I'd got me the favour.

The men in yon forest they are asking me

How many wild strawberries grow in the salt-sea

And I answer them back with a tear in my eye

How many ships sail in the forest.

Go dig me a grave that is long, wide and deep

And cover it over with flowers so sweet

That I may lay down there and take a long sleep

And that's the best way to forget her.

So they've dug him a grave and they've dug it so deep

And they've covered it over with flowers so sweet

And he has lain down there to take a long sleep

And maybe by now he's forgotten."

Lady...Dru gasped...

"Angelus..." she turned to show her "father" the Lady...

"He can't see me, dear..." Haly in Cicely's form beamed at her...

"Only you, dear girl..." she smiled...

You pathetic lunatic...the vengeance demon thought, sighing...

The tools I must work with at times...Ah well...

"Drusilla...You must keep yourself and your sire away from your new home tonight...The Slayer is there now, waiting...She who would take your Prince from you...And destroy you in the process..."

The Slayer?...Dru blanched...

"She cannot find you here, dear...Just see that Angelus keeps from the new lair...Tell you sense the Slayer if you must..." Haly eyed Angelus, now leading his new mates in a second chorus...

Probably not a major problem...she noted...

But if your Darla returns or he does seek to go home on his own initiative...You must dissuade them...

"If you succeed...Tonight is the night...And I will come to tell you when...And where...To meet Him..." she smiled...Vanishing...

Lady?...Dru gasped...Staring blankly...

"Is it really true, Miss Rosenberg?..." A member of the Chairman's party asked Willow as the group waited in a street a few blocks from the Angelus pride's former lair...Awaiting an inperson report from one of Rathskeller's Observers who'd claimed to have spotted one of the two female members of the pride just a few moments before...Which one not yet specified...

"Is your grandfather actually helping Dracula to find his redemption?..."

She nodded...

"When Grandfather caught him in Transylvania last month, the Count claimed to be seeking recovery of his soul for his beloved wife's sake...Having tried but failed to find her reincarnated soul here in England, after a vision of her soul in torment reached him...My grandfather has agreed to help him, so long as old Dracula released the poor woman he'd put in thrall, mistaking her for his lost wife...Grandfather's client's wife, Mrs. Harker...Which he did... "

"Grandfather is a push-over for such romantics..." she sighed... "But he and his group are well-protected against Dracula...Should the Count be deceiving him, he and his unholy "family" will pay dearly..."

"But if he succeeds..." Willow beamed...

"To redeem a vampire...The original Dracula...The ancient first Master of Vampires himself..."

"A marvelous achievement...If it can be done..." the young man shook his head...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XIII...

"It's all very strange...Don't you agree, Fowler?..." Jonathan pondered as he and Andrew rode back to their club in Henry's carriage...

"Looneys are a strange business..." Andrew nodded... "Not quite my line..."

Hmmn...Levinson eyed his friend...

Yes...

"But...It doesn't make sense that Cicely would be pursuing them on her own...With nothing but a pointed stick to defend herself..."

"Perhaps looneys are frightened by sticks...Fear the rod and all that..." Andrew suggested...

Still...Even he...

"Possible that Farris has something..." he looked at Jonathan...

No...Levinson shook his head...

"Not even a strait-jacket for one of them...How were they planning to ferry these people back to wherever they keep them?..."

Hmmn...Andrew gave a profound look...

"Yes...Very strange...But..." he fell back happily on his stock answer...

"Bit out of my line, eh..." he smiled...

"I think we should return, Andrew...Find out just what is going on..."

He rammed his cane on the carriage ceiling...Sir?...the driver called...

"If it's alright by you, old fellow...?" he looked at Andrew...

Certainly, certainly...Andrew nodded... "No special business for me tonight..."

"And Cicely and I are rather close to an agreement..." he noted...

"Turn around, back to the warehouse!"...Jonathan cried to the driver...

"Let us out a block from the place!..." he added...

"We'll proceed in on foot from there..." he explained to Andrew...

"See if we can find a good vantage point and keep a sharp eye out..."

"Jolly good..." Andrew beamed...Bit of an adventure, eh what...?

"So..." Henry eyed his cousin...As Cicely cautiously peered into the misty street, keeping them both well back against the dank bricks of the warehouse wall...Her stake, "Dickens" firmly gripped at her side...

"This is what you do when you slip off all those nights..."

"Not...All those nights..." she grinned back at him a moment...

"At least...Not since you introduced me to William..."

"Well...Let me ask you, dear..."

She waved for silence, staring and listening intently...

Nothing...She looked at him...Yes?...

"How are we supposed to secure these deranged people?...When all we have is a sharp stick...Your sharp stick..."

"Leave that to me..." she insisted...

"I have done this before, Henry...Many times..."

In the warehouse, Farris contemplated the situation...

All as well as he could have hoped for...

But best to leave...Surely one or more of the pride would return shortly and it'd be rather ridiculous to be killed the night before his moment of triumph, if one should slip past Cicely or enter via another route...

He left the building and headed carefully in the direction around it Cicely and Henry had taken...

"Ow!..." Darla howled...As her stirring companion suddenly snapped up at her, bitting her on the lip...

"Why you...!" she sank fangs into the woman's wrist...Angrily draining her...

Oops...Dinner for the others...Darla might be a vicious killer, a harsh "grandmother", and scathingly sarcastic mate...But she was an excellent provider...She withdrew, and after giving the prostitute a moderate slap on the hand for her unladylike behavior...Stood up...

She dragged the now very near...oops...death lady along...Whose passing and transformation from the blood she swallowed when biting back went unnoticed by an anxious Darla...Still eyeing the dark alleys for any signs of Watchers or the Slayer...

Willow and her fearless team of would-be Watcher Observers and Vampire Hunters, supplemented by the presence of Chairman Rathskeller himself, were advancing towards the new Angelus pride lair, based on information from a well-placed Observer...Who'd sworn she'd just seen the infamous Darla...Less than three blocks away...Creeping along her way with an ominous-looking large object dragged behind her...

"Feeding, no doubt..." Willow noted...Good...A chance to catch her while she's encumbered...

"We must hurry..." she eyed Arthur, gripping the cross at her side firmly...The Chairman nodding...

"Miss Rosenberg...?" Rathskeller asked politely...As the team hurried along the dark street...

Hmmn?...she looked at him...Sir?...she paused to wave several team members to an alleyway...

Nothing...one quickly reported back...The group continued on...

"I've been meaning to ask...Why only the Cross?..."

She stopped and stared at him...

"It's just...You being of the Hebrew faith and all..."

"It's my understanding that the Angelus pride were Christian...Well, raised Christian...Vampires...So Christian symbols..." she explained...

"If we run into any Jewish vampires, I'm prepared..." she smiled...Raising a Star of David necklace tucked under her blouse...

"But the effect of the symbol depends on their former selves' beliefs as humans..."

"Yes, your grandfather's contention...I well remember..." The Chairman nodded... "And so we have suspected as well..."

"Our last Slayer was an Indian...Her opponents there seemed rather impervious to Christian symbols...So we agreed to let her use Hindu objects in defeating them..."

Poor Amara...he sighed...A brave girl...

"I was her Watcher..." he explained...

"Sad to say we had some disagreement during the Great Indian Mutiny..."

"Though thank God I was with her at the end..." he sighed...

"I'm sure she appreciated it, sir..." Willow smiled...And looked over to where another team member was emerging from the next alley...Nothing, the man shook his head...

"Ow!..Rrr!..." Faint cries came to them from down the road...Where Darla and her new "daughter" were getting to know each other...

"There!...That's it!..." Willow charged off...

"Hurry, people!..." Rathskeller called to the team, racing after Willow...

Ahhhh! Rrr!...The retired young prostitute leaped up at Darla, in "work-face"...Darla jumped back...Good God!...

I really must curb my appetite and follow a strict dietary plan...she sighed, as her new-born shoved her back...

"What's happened to me?...You!..." the new vampire glared at Darla...

"You bit me!..." she howled at Darla...

"That'll cost you extra..." she noted, her old business sense kicking in...

What!...she felt her face...

"Damn you, lady...What've you gone and done to me face?..."

Extra?...Darla glared...Hell, she didn't do a thing...I'd never have pulled something like that in my day...

Not that I was even interested of course...she noted to herself angrily...

"What do you take me for?" she yelled at her new "daughter"...

Some degenerate with bizarre tastes...?

"I'm your siress, girl!...Albeit unintentionally...And you'd better mind..." she stared as the vampiress raced off...

The younger generation...she shook her head...Watching the vamp vanish round the alley corner ahead...

No respect, no morals...No sense of tradition...

Damn...Nothing for the others...Not that I really care, but...I do have a hunting record to maintain...

And they'll both be whining all day tomorrow if I come up empty-handed...

Hmmn...My new "daughter" must have sensed humans that way...Newborns are always keen...and hungry...

And I should destroy her asap...Can't let a common street whore join our family...Or even just take the Angelus pride name...

Standards must be maintained, after all...

"Good God!...Look at that!..." Jonathan pointed from their carriage to the running figure just emerging from an alleyway...A hideous apparition appearing to view for just a second as it moved under a gaslight...

Where?...Andrew looked...

"Sorry, must have missed it...Was that...?"

"I would say so..." Jonathan nodded...

"But not like any poor wretch of a lunatic I ever heard of..." he craned his neck trying to look back at the fleeing creature...Already vanished in the mist down the street...

Hmmn...Andrew peered back up the street...Ah...He tapped Jonathan on the shoulder...

"I believe we've found our lunatics, Levinson!..." Andrew happily noted to Jonathan...Staring at

Willow and her team as they emerged out of the darkness from up the road...All armed with the same sharp sticks Cicely had carried...

Whoa!...Darla halted in her alley, crushing against a dark wall...Seeing a troop of determined-looking men and a few women, including one red-haired young woman, passing in front of the alley...A number armed with?...Yep, stakes...

Phew...Thank the demon gods for her new "daughter"...Clearly their current focus...

Time to play frightened young gentlewoman, lost on a street in a dangerous area...And get the hell back to where she'd left the "family"...

Ah...A carriage bearing two lucky gentlemen...Who, no doubt, would be willing to give a shy and lovely young lady a ride to...She hurried out of the alley...As the carriage, bearing Jonathan and Andrew moved on after Willow's and the Chairman's team...

Hmmn...Perhaps a tad less shy was called for...

"Help!..." she cried after the carriage...

Back at the tavern, devoted "father" and "family" man that he was, the mighty and fearless vampire prince Angelus (Prince?...Vladimir glared...Who the hell made him a Prince?...That nobody little wastrel of an Irish...) continued to carefully heed his beloved Darla's injunction to protect his dear "daughter"...Making Halfreck's warning to Drusilla to keep from the lair for that evening rather unnecessary...

"Another round...!" Angelus happily called...

"Gentlemen, another tune?..." Friendly cries of "Here, here"...Such a jolly good fellow, this fine gent...

Ah, the noble Angelus...His reputation as fiend and killer sadly obscuring his desserts as a delightful companion and generous benefactor to all and sundry he met...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XIV...

March 13th, 1880...12:29 am...Wilhelmina "Willow" Rosenberg, grand-daughter of the great and famed if rather independently minded Vampire Hunter Abraham Van Helsing...With Chairman of the Council of Watchers, Arthur Rathskeller and his team...Were in hot pursuit, down one of 1880 London's more disreputable streets...Of the wrong vampire...

Darla's newly...And accidently...sired "daughter"...

Who, as a recent London streetwalker by profession, knew the little dark alleyways abouts well enough to lead them on a merry chase...In the area near their true goal, the Angelus pride's latest lair...A large warehouse...

A large warehouse which Andrew Fowler...Of the mercantile firm Fowler and Fowler, Ltd., Tucker Fowler senior partner...Had just remembered, as he rode by carriage with his friend and fellow suitor for the hand of one Cicely Addams...Now Cicely Addams Walthrop...Jonathan Levinson, barrister...Was in fact, a warehouse owned by his own firm...

A fact which he jovially noted to Levinson even as their carriage, headed back to that warehouse, was desperately being hailed from behind by a rather sincerely frantic Darla, anxious to avoid the Watcher team on the trail of her "daughter"...

Jonathan himself being currently rather torn between continuing their return to the warehouse in order to assist their beloved Miss Addams, her friend the somewhat sinister Simon Farris, and her cousin Henry Foxcroft, in their search of the area for a group of what had been described by her and Farris as sadly deranged escapees from an asylum...Or instead to take up the pursuit of the strange group, likely to be the said escapees from their appearance, that had just run down the street in front of their carriage...In fact, Willow's team, chasing a rather hideous creature, Darla's newborn vamp "daughter"...

As for the new Mrs. Walthrop and her cousin, they were just beginning an outside circuit of Fowler and Fowler's warehouse...Cicely determined to find and destroy the Angelus pride this night, now passing midnight, before she and her beloved William left London to begin a new life...Where they were now joined by her Watcher, Simon Farris...

Anxious to see that the next step in his plan to keep his Slayer by his side...Or destroy her and replace her with a more malleable young lady...And then advance to the Chairmanship...Was achieved...

He arrived on scene just in time to see that step taken...Not quite the way he'd expected, but close enough...Farris being a flexible strategist...

"GRRR!..." the former streetwalker emerged from a side alley, focusing on the small party of humans in front of her, instinctively having sensed that Willow's pursuing team would be too much to handle...

On the instinct fostered by years of experience, Farris took an impassive stand, cross raised, stake at ready...Though with Cicely about he had little expectation of having to deal with the creature himself...

Clearly not a old member of the Angelus pride, far too impulsively attacking and unaware that it was in the presence of the Slayer...Something no experienced vampire like the pride's trio would fail to sense...

Mrs. Walthrop likewise stood a defensive stance...Stake at ready...Though she hastily and unceremoniously shoved her cousin back behind her, against the warehouse wall...

Stay!...she hissed...Not taking her eyes off the charging creature...

"Rrr...Ahhhh!...Hah...!" the creature leaped at Cicely...Henry rushing out at it, even as Cicely smashed her stake into its chest...

It shattered into a dust cloud...Leaving behind nothing but the vaguest sense of joyous release...

And poor Henry's horrified stare...

William Soames Walthrop, returned from his brief trip to his home town of Brusset to escort his sister, young Amelia, home...Had reached his rooms in London, lent him by his good friend Henry Foxcroft, uneventfully...

He was somewhat depressed at not finding his new bride there...Though she had warned him that she'd doubted she could come to him this night of their wedding, she'd promised to try if possible...And Cicely was a woman of considerable determination...

Should he attempt a stroll past her family townhome?...No, well past midnight now...

In any case...Tonight would be their last night apart...And after the Addams-Foxcroft party, her last social obligation of the season which she understandably preferred to fulfill for her father's sake, she'd promised to leave with him...

Best to get some rest...He'd have to get about tomorrow to settle their new lodgings near Cambridge...Where they'd stay until his degree completed and career begun, they'd be off to see what the world had in store for them...

Still...If only she'd come...Somehow it all seemed so unreal without her here...And so transitory...

Far too likely to have all been a happy dream...

Henry was still expressing gaping astonishment as Cicely reluctantly gave him a few spare tidbits of the truth...

A...Vampire?...he eyed his cousin...Who bore a look of stern and commanding authority he'd seen before, but only at the service of protecting those whom she felt London society had treated harshly...Never suspecting it might be employed at the service of protecting Humanity as a whole...

A moment...She raised a hand, clearly listening for someone or something... "Wait here...I want to check for others..." she commanded...And stake by her side, hurried off...

"Cicely!..." Henry cried after her...

Stay there!...she thundered back to him in a voice that brook no opposition...And picking up speed, vanished around the side of the warehouse before he could move...

"Mr. Foxcroft..." Farris eyed him sternly...Standing beside him as Cicely made her quick sweep round the building, the Slayer and Watcher having jointly confirmed that the newly destroyed vampiress had not been one of the original pride...

"What you have learned...You must swear to keep to yourself..."

"The fate of all Humanity...And our glorious Empire...May well depend on your maintaining our secret..."

"Vampires...?" Foxcroft stared at the older man...

"And Cicely destroys them?..."

"Yes...However we prefer to calling it...Slaying...And she is the chosen Slayer..."

Slayer?...Henry looked after her trail in the mist...

"Oh...Sirs..." a grateful Darla...Sincerely grateful, what with at least a half-dozen Watchers' Council team members...And in all probability, the Slayer herself...in the immediate vicinity...Eyed Jonathan and Andrew from her happily granted seat in their carriage...Now headed to a location a few blocks into the City's safer streets the young frightened woman had gasped to them...

"Gentlemen like you are so...Rare..." she caught a breath she did not require but which gave credence to her performance...

"I don't doubt I'd have been assaulted...Even killed...If you hadn't stopped to help me..."

"Don't understand how I could have gotten so lost...Wandering into such a dreadful area..." she shook her head...

Really...I do try to avoid neighborhoods like that...she thought...Get yourself gutted and dusted by some cheap thief or whore with a wooden knife quite easily...

"Why were you wandering about there...At this hour, Miss...er...?" Jonathan stared at her, but smiled as warmly as he could given his strange feeling about her...

"I arrived in town just this evening on the train...Never did find my carriage to take me to my fiancee's apartments...I couldn't bear not finding him tonight...We've only a day before he leaves for India..." Darla sighed mournfully...

Or Greenland, she thought...Or anywhere that gets the lout and the Slayer hunting him away from me...

"I thought this was the way...But clearly..." she shrugged...

Ah...Andrew smiled...Quite warmly...

"Lad's a soldier is he?...What outfit?..."

She gambled, based on the man's vague look that he hadn't the slightest conception of the "outfits" currently assigned to India and replied...

"The 14th regiment of the Shropshire Lancers..." she injected a note of pride...

"But he leaves so soon..." she sadly lowered her eyes...

Pity, pity...Andrew gave her a slight hand pat...

"Damned shame to have to leave behind a fine girl like you...Poor fellow..."

Hmmn...she smiled demurely at Andrew, considering the possibility of a profitable business transaction...Having already eaten her fill earlier...

But thought better of it seeing Jonathan still regarding her carefully...

"You're too kind, sir..." she smiled at Andrew...

"But...I'm not taking you gentlemen too far out of your way...?" she asked...

Again quite sincere...As it didn't much matter where they took her so long as they took away from the area where the Watcher team lurked...

"No, not at all...The place you specified isn't far..." Jonathan tried a bit more graciousness...

"Will it be possible for you to contact your fiancee from there, however...?"

Oh, yes...Darla smiled...

"He was to head for the nearest inn if I was later than expected...One's just up the road..."

"I'm afraid..." she hesitated, blushing a bit... "It must look awful to you gentlemen...My meeting him here like this...?"

"Nonsense..." Andrew beamed...

"Young lovers' hearts and all that, eh...Levinson?"

"She will be alright, my friend..."

"Your cousin has been Humanity's greatest champion, Foxcroft..." Simon solemnly noted to Henry as they awaited Cicely's return...Henry anxiously heading down the street and back every few moments...

"I must tell you, however...I am deeply grateful to you for bringing her together with Mr. Walthrop..." Farris eyed his companion...as now they both strode back and forth, seeking a glimpse of her...

Henry paused...The Watcher looked down the street again and then faced him...

"Yes, I know of her marriage...The best possible thing for her...Especially now..."

"Oh...And why is that?..."

"The Angelus pride...The group we have been seeking...Is the most dangerous "family" of vampires Cicely has faced yet...All vicious and skilled killers...And one especially...Has unusual abilities..."

Henry made a move to head out after his cousin...

No, no...Simon pulled him back... "The pride isn't here...Yet..."

"I assure you...I'd know...As she would...She is just taking precautions..."

"How can you and your followers...This "Council" of yours...Allow an innocent young woman...?"

"I note you did not say "innocent and helpless", Foxcroft..." Farris smiled...

"You know yourself, Cicely is anything but "helpless"..."

"She is the Slayer, Henry...The Chosen One...Only one...And only a woman...Can be chosen in each generation...To be granted the strength to kill the denizens of the underworld who threaten Humanity...Until she dies...And the next is chosen to inherit her power..."

But...Simon shook his head...

"Cicely has sacrificed herself enough...And deserves the happiness she has fought so hard for..."

"If she can survive this last fight..."

"Or we...Can help her..." he stared intently at Henry...

He motioned for caution as they saw Cicely calmly returning from the other end of the street...

"Nothing..." she sighed...Coming up to where they waited...

"If the pride was here at all recently...And that one wasn't just one they took to post as a guard...They've been gone a while..."

"Hunting perhaps..." she began...Ummn...she eyed her startled cousin...

Hunting...?

"Hunting human beings...?" he asked...Gulping...

"If it helps, imagine how an intelligent cow must view our eating habits..." she smiled at him...

A topic of conversation a few nights ago...Henry remembered...Smiling back...

Of course, then it was in the cause of defending a vegetarian friend in supper table conversation...Not in the cause of seeing things from the vampiral pov...

"Give us a moment, Simon..." Cicely eyed her Watcher...Who nodded gently, moving back to the warehouse door...

Henry sighed...Leaning against a wall of the warehouse...Looking ruefully at her...

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, Henry..." she stared sheepishly back...

"But..." she smiled gently... "I'm rather glad you did...Now that I'm leaving London...It may help you to understand why I must..."

"I must see that the family isn't at risk...It's become too dangerous...My enemies are beginning to learn who I am in my daily life..."

"You aren't giving this up?..." Henry stared at her... "Cicely...? What about William?..."

"I plan to tell him..." she looked away...

"As soon as I..."

"He doesn't know?..." Henry interrupted her...

"How could you marry him and not...? My dear girl..."

"I love him, Henry...I couldn't risk telling him..." she teared a bit as she spoke...

"But...?"

"I can protect him...He'll be safe out of London...With me..." she insisted...

"And I'll continue the work as I can..."

"And if you die, fighting these...Creatures?...Perhaps after you've had children...?"

"People die, Henry...My mother died when I was a baby..."

"When are you going to tell him?..."

She put a hand...

"Soon...But after we've left London..."

He shook his head...Not right, this...Not fair to her family...Nor to...My God!...

"Vampires?...Don't they create?...Breed...Somehow produce...Other vampires...?"

"From human beings?..." he looked at her...

She looked away a moment...

Yes...she finally replied...

"It's called transformation...But it requires the victim be drained of his or her blood, and receive the vampire sire's or siress' blood..."

"But...I am the Slayer..." she noted firmly...

"And it will never happen to me..."

"And William...? Your children...?" Henry stared back...With equal firmness...

"Never..." she replied...

But he caught the quaver in her voice...

Normally the tavern in which Angelus and Dru kept a vigil for Darla's return would have closed by now...Even unofficially...

But with such a warm-hearted benefactor providing for the house, the owner couldn't find it in his heart to call the last round...

Though he was careful to shutter the place in case a bobby not of his acquaintance should pass by..

With Darla's return, however...Having followed the family scent over after giving her kindly benefactors her best and sincerest wishes for good fortune...Events took a more somber turn...

But at least, all within...Excepting the proprietor, who'd kept from the cup, naturally...Were well provided with pain analgesic thanks to the noble and kindly Angelus' previous generosity...And died relatively peacefully...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XV...

Sounds from up the street caused Cicely to grab her stake...And dear Henry...And retreat towards the streetlight near the warehouse door...Farris following quickly at her urging...

Sounds which grew louder...And suddenly took form...In the various members of Willow's and Chairman Rathskeller's team...

My God...Farris blinked as he recognized the Chairman among the group...Stepping forward with Ms. Rosenberg...

I never would have thought Arthur would take such precipitate action...

This calls for fast action on my own part to minimize potential damage...

Cicely blinked as well...Chairman Rathskeller?...Here...?

And armed with stake and cross?...

"Good evening, Simon...Miss Addams..." Arthur nodded to them...

I see we are all out and about after the same prey...

A satisfactory explanation...For Andrew at least...Had been made to the safely returned Levinson and Fowler...Namely that the Chairman's team were warders from the asylum where Cicely did her charitable work and had safely secured the poor lunatic wretches who'd escaped earlier...

Cicely had abandoned her hunt only after several hours of waiting by the Fowler and Fowler warehouse...While the Chairman and his "special consultant" had had their team patrol the alleyways round...

The combined efforts of the Rosenberg/Rathskeller team and Cicely and company had proven fruitless...The pride was not to be found...And dawn was nearing...

Fortunately for Simon Farris, Cicely had striven to avoid a confrontation with the Chairman who for his part had temporarily shelved the matter of the Slayer's future pending the night's outcome...

And at the Watcher's quiet urging, had reluctantly agreed to leave things in Farris' hands for now...

If anyone could persuade Miss Addams...er Mrs. Walthrop of her obligations to Humanity, it was clearly the Watcher and guardian who'd been her guide and mentor for ten years...

Miss Rosenberg however...Took a more forthright view...And had not hesitated to express it as the group met before parting...

Surely Miss Addams was cognizant of her Duty as Slayer...And was not planning to abandon London and its citizenry to the Angelus "family"...she solemnly eyed Cicely...

"My name...Is Walthrop now...Mrs. Walthrop..." Cicely returned the stare coldly...

"And I do not require you, miss...Nor anyone else...To tell me of my Duty..."

"I'll do what I can..." she turned to the Chairman... "And I mean no disrespect or ingratitude..."

"But I will operate under my own counsel from now on...And will choose...Where and when I will make the fight in future..."

"That...Slayer..." Willow glared... "Is unacceptable..."

"All of us are risking our lives and sacrificing ourselves to defeat this menace..." she began...

"This menace..." Cicely eyed her bitterly...

"Which one is that...? I've lost track over the years..."

"Strange, though...Miss...? I do not remember you ever being there in my previous battles..."

"Rosenberg..."

"Perhaps you know of my grandfather, Dr. Van Helsing?...I believe his credentials would even satisfy you..." Willow gave her a hard smile...

"Mrs...Walthrop..." Chairman Rathskeller stepped in quietly... "Miss Rosenberg has risked death in her own battles with the Dark Powers on a number of occasions..."

"Sadly...Mrs. Walthrop..." Willow paused... "You remain the Slayer...For as long as you live..."

"You cannot escape your destiny...However much you may wish...And try..."

A furious Cicely...Farris noted with satisfaction...Quietly requested her cousin to return to her carriage with her...Simon following...

The Chairman and Miss Rosenberg watching from the warehouse door as their team collected...

"Cicely..." her Watcher quietly began...

"They've no right to speak to me like that, Simon!..." Cicely hissed in cold, bitter rage...She glared back at Willow and the others, now engaged in reviewing the night's hunt...

"I've risked my life...My family's lives...For years...!"

"Yes, yes...But you must focus on the problem at hand, my dear girl..." Farris solemnly noted...Glancing at Henry where he sat beside his cousin for support...

"The pride is still out and about...And if you are leaving tomorrow..."

"I am leaving..." she firmly insisted...

"If necessary, I will find a way to return later..."

"Cicely...If you come...Alone...Later..." Simon began...

"Now at least the Council seems willing for the moment to provide some support..." he continued...

Incompetent support, thank God...he thought...

"This is the time to destroy these creatures...While you still have help...Once you've severed ties with the Council..." he paused...

"Cicely...?" Henry began... "I think Mr. Farris is right..."

"I will decide what to do..." Cicely told them coldly...

Time for the final piece...Simon thought, looking carefully at her...

"Cicely...This Drusilla is rumored to be extremely clairvoyant...She may be able to sense your...Husband's...existence..."

She blanched at him...

Ah...So...Just as Halfreck assured me...Drusilla has made a kind of contact...he beamed within, maintaining a concerned and slightly mournful expression...

"He may already be in danger...And if the pride is not destroyed...Quickly...They will seek out your family and loved ones...It's always been Angelus' modus operandi..."

"And with Drusilla to guide them..." he paused...

She stared at him...

"I heard...Someone...At our wedding..." she began, vaguely...

"She...Someone...Told me...I wouldn't hold him...From her..."

Cicely...? Henry stared at her...

She pulled herself up, erect...

"I will deal with it, Simon...Good night..." she grabbed at the reins and the carriage started out...

"I'll stop by this afternoon...As soon as I can!..." she called to him...Farris nodding back...

"Cicely?..." Henry looked at her...

Enough...she hissed, keeping her eyes firmly on the road...

Well...Farris sighed to himself as he returned to where the Chairman and team were preparing to head for their respective abodes...

Hurdled that possible block quite well I'd say...he eyed Rathskeller as he walked up...

I have underestimated you, Arthur...he thought...But, thankfully...Your efforts have failed...And my dear Cicely has chosen to follow a path that will keep her from any more assistance you might offer...

And now she knows that Drusilla is seeking her husband...And Foxcroft, noble fellow that he is...Is sure to come to me before she does...To follow up on my suggestion that we "help" the poor child...

My fool for love, he sighed again briefly...Even if she survives...I see now that she will be worthless to me after tomorrow...Forever seeking to save her lost love from his curse...Such a waste...

Still, though it will be necessary to hasten her death...I will mourn her loss...Sincerely...

William tossed in his sleep, moaning a bit as he experienced a nightmare...

Cicely leaving him...Rejecting him...He woke with a start...Looking wildly round the room...

For just a moment...He'd thought it true...

Well...She clearly wasn't coming tonight... Understandable he'd have such a dream under the circumstances...

But...Somehow...He felt a bit comforted...As if she was around, hovering over him...Her spirit...Protecting him from all evil...

Guess there's a bit of maternalism in our relationship at that...he grinned to himself...Well...

He went back to sleep, calmed...

Never seeing the figure outside his window, which had drawn back on his waking...But now cautiously returned...Hand to the glass...Watching him...

No time...Cicely sadly told herself...Pulling back from the window...I must get home before daylight...And cruel to wake him again...

Good night, my darling...she blew a kiss...

Sings softly...[Play theme ..."Not While I'm Around..."]

Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around

Nothing's gonna harm you, no sir, not while I'm around...

Demons are prowling everywhere nowadays

I'll send them howling, I don't care, I have ways...

No one's gonna hurt you, no one will ever dare...

Others can desert you, not to worry, whistle...I'll be there

Demons will charm you with a smile...for a while...but in time...

Nothing can harm you, not while I'm around...

This being close and being clever...It isn't being true,

I don't want to...Will, I will never...Hide a thing from you...Again...

No one's gonna hurt you, no one's gonna dare

Others can desert you, not to worry, whistle...Cicely's there

Demons will charm you with a smile...for a while...but in time...

Nothing can harm you, not while I'm around...

"Oh...God, what have I done...?" she asked herself distractedly, looking back at the building as she took her seat in her carriage and pulling the reins...

She was not unobserved...From a dark corner, Drusilla emerged as the carriage turned a corner...Staring at the building...

He is mine...Mine...You can't hold him...she whispered to the wind...

Oh, God...Why have you forsaken me?...A voice cried within...

The knock that came at Farris' chambers door at 5am that morning was by no means unexpected...

Indeed...He'd counted on it...

"Mr. Foxcroft...?" he calmly stared at Henry...

"My apologies, sir...I realize you must be exhausted after last night..."

"Not at all, my boy..." he smiled...Waving him in...

Politely declining a proffered chair, Henry looked at Farris carefully...

"Sir...This night you mentioned the possibility that we might...Help my cousin..."

Yes...Simon nodded...

"If Cicely is to find peace at last...This fearsome pride must be destroyed...And for weak humans like ourselves, Foxcroft...Daylight is the only possible time for action..."

"But if they are in hiding...?"

"I suspect they will remain in the near vicinity...Though I do not believe they would return to their lair in the warehouse...Particularly as the Chairman's men are on guard there..."

"How can we possibly find them...? There are dozens of places in the area they could have found shelter..."

"There is a way..." Farris eyed him solemnly...

"It involves use of skills the Council prefers not to tap...For fear of unleashing dark forces which may be difficult to contain..."

"But, if you would be willing to assist me...? For Cicely's sake...I will take the risk..."

Farris completed his preparations as Henry watched...Spreading powder from a small jar, lighting a candle, and chanting briefly...

"My apologies, Foxcroft..." he smiled a bit wanly at Henry...

"These things look rather ridiculous...I know...But I assure you..."

A blue light glowed, flashed, and...

"Cicely?..." Henry stared at the figure before them...

"Carefully, Foxcroft!..." Simon put a hand out, holding him back...

"Who summons me?..." Halfreck gave it her best, following Simon's previous instructions...

"I, demon..." Simon noted solemnly...

"What is this...?" Henry looked at Farris... "It can't be Cicely..."

"Not your cousin, I assure you, Foxcroft...This is a demon, but a relatively benevolent one...A guardian of sorts...Specific to Cicely..."

"I am a justice demon..." Haly proudly smiled at Henry...

Rather handsome, she thought...

"The justice demon who watches over your cousin's fate, in fact..." she noted...

"What is it you would ask of me?..." she turned to Farris...

"We seek to assist our dear Cicely in her fight...We need the current location of the Angelus pride..."

Ah...

"You are brave to seek such knowledge..." she beamed at Henry...

"Normally...I would require some token of your appreciation in return..." she smiled at the young gentleman...Eyeing him up and down...

Very handsome...

Simon coughed slightly, glaring...Get on with it, girl...

"But..." Haly waved a hand...

"As you seek to benefit my charge...The Slayer herself...I shall assist you...Without such..."

"Unless you might care to...? "

Another, louder cough from Farris...

"Well...Another time, perhaps..." Haly sighed...

"Those you seek have taken refuge in a small tavern near their former lair..."

"But they are...Quite dangerous..."

"I could guide you...Young man...?" she eagerly added...

"By all means..." Henry nodded...

"Wait, my boy...I'll accompany you...And we should have assistance..." Simon told him...

"Cicely plans to seek them again herself...Very soon..." Halfreck noted solemnly...

"And I see great danger for her if she does..." she added...

"They can sense her presence...Feel the Slayer's coming...And are even now preparing to destroy her..."

"We must go...Now, Mr. Farris...There's no time to lose..." Henry looked at Simon...

"Indeed..." he nodded...

"Let me at least fetch weapons..." He headed for a closet...

Haly politely smiled at Henry...

"So...You are Mrs. Walthrop's cousin...?"

Yes...he paused...

"Pardon my asking...Miss...?"

"Halfreck, sir...Haly if you like...And please, ask away..."

"I'm at your service..." she noted...Again looking him over...

"How is it...?"

"How is it?...That I resemble your cousin so...?" she grinned...

"I am...You might say...A very distant relation...An ancestor of the long past..." she explained...

"Which is why I have been given the task of watching over her Fate..."

"A demon ancestor?...Acting as Cicely's guardian spirit?..."

"Not all of us are evil, Mr. Foxcroft...Despite our bad press...And Cicely's unique abilities as Slayer are rooted in our plane of existence..."

"Think of me as an angel if you like..." she beamed...

"Though sadly...My powers are limited in this world...I can only guide you, I'm afraid..."

Foxcroft...Farris called him over...Henry excusing himself politely...

"Don't trust her too far, my boy..." he hissed...

"Demons often have their own agendas...We must proceed cautiously..."

Henry nodded, taking the crossbow and cross Farris offered him...

Nice that the boy isn't to die...If all goes well...Haly happily noted to herself...Smiling at the two humans as she waited patiently...Twirling her parasol...

Very handsome...Brave...A true gentleman...

I wonder if he's ever thought about Cicely...That way...

Weary from his vigil, the noble Angelus rested in the cellar of the tavern where he and his little "family" had concealed themselves from their pursuers...

Though of course the place would eventually have to be abandoned once the massacre had been discovered, staying was the only alternative for the present...

(Must have been quite a hangover after that little party...both Vladimir and Willie thought...)

Darla nervously maintaining a guard...Mainly on the sleeping Drusilla...Who'd barely managed to return before the dawn after eluding her "father"'s concerned and watchful eye...

("However could she have managed that?..." Vladimir asked, chuckling as Angelus glared at the interruption...

"My apologies...Please, continue, my friend..." the Count smiled...Eyeing Willie who smiled back...)

Some laudanum helping to keep the poor deluded creature at rest...A risk that had to be taken...Though leaving the "family" rather poorly prepared for defense...

(Angelus dead drunk and Drusilla drugged?...Poor Darla...Vladimir thought sympathetically...)

Back at the Fowler and Fowler warehouse, three members of the Council team continued to keep watch...Chairman Rathskeller, Willow, and the young Observer so fascinated by the tale of Willow's gramp's battle/alliance with the original Count Dracula...A chaperone for the young lady being required naturally...

Though all were in agreement that it was unlikely the pride would return to an uncovered nest, there was for the moment no alternative...And, as Willow had pointed out when she insisted on staying, alone if need be...It was quite likely the pride was somewhere nearby, given that Darla had been spotted near where the newborn vamp had surfaced...

There...Haly pointed to the tavern as she, Farris and Henry stood in the early morning mist...

"The pride is in hiding in that tavern...In the cellar..."

"You are fortunate, young man..." she gave Henry a sweet smile... "Two of them are currently resting...Almost helpless if you act quickly..."

"It might be wise to let me contact my staff, Henry..." Simon eyed him...

"There is little time, gentlemen..." Halfreck noted... "The two sleeping will awaken soon...And inside the building they will make formidable opponents...My best to you..."

She vanished abruptly...

"We'd better go ahead..." Henry insisted...Checking his crossbow...

Fortunately an empty alley and the early hour concealing two of the three and their weapons...Haly currently remaining invisible to all but the two men...

Very well...Farris nodded...They moved to the door...Locked...

"We'd best try to find an unlocked cellar or ground floor window..." Simon eyed Henry...

The two men began checking, moving around the building in opposite directions...

"When?..." Haly appeared before Farris as he rounded a corner of the tavern, out of Henry's view...

"Now..." Simon nodded...

An exhausted Cicely roused herself...Barely six am...She'd slept less than two hours...If even that...

What to do...? she asked her image in the bedroom mirror...

Unlikely that Simon had learned anything as yet...He'd surely have sent a messenger immediately...Bearing urgent news of a "sick friend" as per their usual routine for enabling her to leave her home at odd hours in such situations...

But she couldn't simply let the day tick away...If the pride had uncovered William's relationship to her somehow...Every moment was precious...

Still, she couldn't simply run off and search buildings blindly...

Run off?...A possible alternative...One that she had considered the night before...Yes...

Run to Will...Take him out of London this morning, at once, ostensibly in fear of her father's wrath...And once he was safely away...Return and with Simon's help complete her fight...

Yes...Just...Check with Simon to see if anything had been learned...Then to Will...

She looked at her wan and hollow-cheeked face in the mirror...Hardly the face of a new and supremely happy bride, she noted...

Thank God I didn't wake him...He'd have been terrified to see me like this...

Sure I was reconsidering...she paused...

Am I...? Reconsidering...?

No...Never...I will not give him up...

Oh, God...Spare my beloved husband...

She rose up...Calling on the Slayer within...

I can protect him...I will...He is mine...Not yours, you foul creature...she looked at her face in the mirror again...Tears now rolling to her surprise...Terrified and joyous all at once...

Now I do look like a new bride...she thought...

A window popped inward at Foxcroft's touch...

Strange...It had seemed locked a moment before...

Still...He looked round for Farris, now apparently on the other side of the building...Hmmn...

To wait or not to wait...If he called, it might alert the creatures...If he left to fetch Farris...They might notice the sun now peeping in...He grabbed at the window...It refused to close and popped out of his hands...

Well...Best to see if this was a proper way in...He climbed inside...Moving carefully about as his eyes adjusted...Only a couple of slivers of light slipping in...

A storage room of sorts, kegs of various beers about...And a door at the back...

He considered briefly...The window slammed shut behind him...Locked and not to be forced open...

Strange...And unfortunate...

Given that the door at the end of the room now opened to reveal a rather startled Darla...

Darla blinked at the tall young man...Standing in the cellar back storeroom...

"Who the devil...?" she began...Frowning...

Fortunately the fool seemed to be alone...

Sir...she sternly eyed him, bringing herself up...

"You have trespassed on my lodgings...Without my permission..."

"I would...Under normal circumstances...Call a constable..."

"However...I believe it will be possible for me to deal with you myself..." she smiled...

"You being such a fool as to come here unaided and unprotected..." she put on her demon face...

"Back, demon...!" Henry cried...Waving a cross...And stake...

She jumped...Whoa!...

Not quite as foolish as she'd thought...

Still...No sign of support...Especially the Slayer...At hand...

"How dare you challenge me!...In my own home!..." she growled...

"Most...Ungentlemanly of you, sir..." she noted...Resuming human face...

Cute...And brave...she thought...Hmmn...

"Sir..." she sighed...

"My apologies...I see now you have come solely to free me...From my hideous curse..."

Right?...she asked him...Batting eyes...

"If God grants me the strength, I hope to..." he nodded...Holding cross and stake firmly...

"Such courage..." Darla smiled kindly...

"However, for my part...I'm afraid I can't say as I believe in God, you fool!..." she resumed vamp face and leaped at him...

He raised the cross at her...She grabbed it and shrieked with pain, but wrenched it out of his grasp and tossed it aside...

"Stings..." she noted, grinning at him as he backed away, stake in hand... "But one can learn to deal with it..."

She jumped at him, knocking him down, and grabbing his head, sank her fangs...

"Arggh!..." she howled, leaping up to face a new challenger from behind...Who'd just blasted a spray of holy water at her face...

"BACK!..." Willow yelled...A large cross next to her raised by the Chairman...Jonathan and the young Observer behind them, aiming crossbows...

Darla reared in fright...The men firing...One arrow tearing through her right dress sleeve but missing...Jonathan's grazing her hand...

She raced for the rear of the room, screaming...Not letting a little thing like a glass window...

And the daylight streaming through stop her motion...

"Darla!..." Rathskeller noted hastily to Willow...

"Hurry!..." Willow cried...Waving for the Chairman to stay with Henry...She led the others out into the street...

OhAngelusmydarlingcometomenow...Darla hastily thought, struggling to suppress a scream from her burns...You stupid sodding twit...

Hiding from sun and pursuers in an alley between the tavern and a decrepit old factory building...

Thank goodness for the safety of soulless, daylight-blocking slum buildings...

She moved cautiously along the alley...Dodging into corners as peeks of sun reached her...

Raising a few additional faint smoke puffs...

Which the young Observer noted as he checked between the buildings in the street...

"Here!..." he cried...Pointing down...

Willow and Jonathan racing up and in after him...

Gotta get cover and out into the main street, Darla thought...Looking desperately...Ah...

She raced out into the street at the opposite end of her alley and grabbed a shawl from a young woman as she passed, knocking her aside...Throwing it over her head, covering everything she could...

And saw an elderly drunk in a doorway...

She hurried up to him...Draping the shawl more carefully as she stood under the doorway's shadow...

"Listen..." she hissed... "There's ten shillings..." she dumped a fist of money into the startled man's hand...

"More to come if you help me..." she sternly eyed the befuddled man...

"Just nod and say yes to what I say..." she took his hand...And moved out into the street boldly...Keeping one hand under the shawl, the other under the man's...

She wouldn't last long this way...A single misstep by her or her companion to unsettle the shawl and her exposed, burning flesh would give her away instantly...

But all it would take was a few minutes daring ...

(A mate truly worthy of the mighty Angelus...Angelus noted, beaming...

My legendary vampiral ancestor...he smiled at Stoker who nodded politely...

Hmmn...Conceited jackass the fellow may be...But Darla as vampiral heroine has an appeal...Vladimir noted...

Perhaps Stoker and I should consider a female in our tale...

Course if I brought dear old reincarnated great-grandma into the story...

Great-granddad would have my hide for sure...Human-souled again or no...)

Back in the cellar back room, the Chairman carefully tended young Foxcroft...

"How...?" Henry eyed him...

"One of my spotters saw Simon by this building...Came to us at the warehouse to report..." Rathskeller noted...

"We guessed he was out to try hunting a bit on his own..."

"We got here just in time I see...Though it seems too late for the poor souls upstairs..."

"Where is Mr. Farris...?"

"Here, my dear boy..." Simon called, entering...

"I entered from a window on the other side...The cellar there has an access tunnel to the river and the city sewers..."

"I was coming out of it...Just as Arthur and Miss Rosenberg arrived..."

"I'm sorry you didn't wait for me, Henry..." Farris sighed... "It's just luck that you survived..."

"Angelus and Drusilla...?" the Chairman eyed...

"They must have escaped via the tunnel on hearing us..." Farris shook his head...

Thanks to my dear partner...he mentally thanked Halfreck...

"How bad is he?..." he eyed Henry...

"Lost a deal of blood, but...Did the creature feed you blood, boy...?" Rathskeller turned to Henry...Who shook his head...

Unlikely in any case, Farris noted...She had very little time for recruitment...

"Was that...Levinson?..." Henry looked at them...

"Yes..." Rathskeller nodded... "He and Fowler returned to the warehouse just a short time before my scout came to us...They were a bit concerned when you never returned to your club and hadn't shown up at home..."

"We requested that Mr. Fowler stay with our people at the warehouse...In case police or his employees made any fuss about finding us about this morning..."

"It appears, Simon...The Council will have to take these brave lads into its confidence..." he smiled at Farris...

"But there's always room for new members..."

Willow, Jonathan, and the Observer hunted the alleyways where Darla had vanished...Nothing...

Just a few bystanders...Including a worn-looking shy young woman in shawl and her elderly father...

Who requested directions of a team member, she having gotten them hopelessly lost in the maze of streets...

So pleased Darla was with the success of her ruse that she actually considered letting the man take her money and go, as they neared a more crowded street, Willow and group having continued in the opposite direction...

But after all...Ten shillings...And hard come by...


	2. Chapter 2

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

[Play main theme...Overture from "The Phantom of the Opera..."]

Part XVI...

Arriving at Farris' building just after six-thirty am, Cicely was startled to find a message for her from Simon posted on the door to his rooms...Urgent that she come to the Council's Antiquarian Hall at once...If she had indeed come in search of him...

She found Farris in the Chairman's chambers...Along with Chairman Rathskeller, Willow Rosenberg, several team members from the previous night, and, much to her shocked surprise, Jonathan Levinson...

"Mr. Levinson...?" she eyed him...He waved back wanly...Bowing slightly...

"Mr. Levinson...And to a lesser extent, Mr. Fowler...Have of necessity been taken into our confidence Mrs. Walthrop..." the Chairman explained quietly... "Following events of this morning..."

"As has your cousin..."

"What has happened?..." she asked, looking at their solemn faces...

"Cicely..." Farris paused...Jonathan came over...Taking her hand...

"Foxcroft was attacked early this morning..."

"Henry?..." she looked at Jonathan, trembling...

"He's fine, Cicely...Just lost some blood, that's all..." Levinson patted her hand, leading her to a chair...She collapsed into it...Taking Jonathan's hand in both of hers...

She looks like Death warmed over...he thought, staring down at her weary face...

My poor Cicely...

"He is all right, Cicely..." he told her again, gently...She nodded but stared off...What have I done?...

What am I going to do?...

"A brave young man, your cousin..." the Chairman eyed her...

How...? she shook her head, staring at him...And Simon, in turn...

"He'd come with me in search of anything we could learn as to the pride's whereabouts..." Farris explained smoothly...

He insisted on entering the place where we suspected they'd holed up...He wanted to spare you, Cicely...End this as quickly as possible...

"I was searching a tunnel in the front of the cellar...Angelus and Drusilla must have escaped by it...But Darla was still there, on guard and attacked him..." Simon sighed... "I should have kept a closer eye on him, brave lad..."

"But he will be all right..." Jonathan repeated to her...Squeezing her hand...

She looked up at him...And looked anxiously at the Chairman...

"But...How could you involve Mr. Levinson and Mr. Fowler in this...?"

"Our own faults, girl..." Jonathan smiled at her... "We didn't find Henry at the club or at home and returned..."

Besides...he grinned now...She smiling back feebly...

"Your "lunatic" explanation didn't quite convince us..."

"Though..." he sighed at the others who smiled back...

"The truth is not much easier to accept..."

"You are a good man, Jonathan..." Cicely kissed his hand...He shyly blushing...

"Just doing what we can...Fowler and I..." he murmured hastily...

She looked up at the Chairman...

"Where is Henry now?...Can I see him...?"

"Below, in our infirmary...I'll take you, my dear..." Farris nodded...

Jonathan...? she looked up at Levinson, who nodded and led her carefully to the door after Simon...

After the group had left, Willow turned to Chairman Rathskeller...

"What do you think...? Will she stay on, now?..."

He sighed...

"I believe so..." he nodded...

I fear so...he added...Willow staring at him...

"You saw her, Miss Rosenberg...She is worn down...And the more I see of her, the more I hope she will escape...And find some modicum of peace..."

"God knows, I have seen enough young women die before their time..." he sighed again, looking away...

She left the subject of Mrs. Walthrop...

"What was Farris thinking...Confronting the pride with Foxcroft alone?...And how did he locate them?..."

"Simon has been Cicely's Watcher for over ten years...He's become a second father to her...I suppose he felt he had to do something...As to locating the pride, he made use of unauthorized magics..." Rathskeller paused...

"A fact that is not to leave this room for the present..." he eyed the group...

"I assure you..." he addressed the Council members of the team... "The appropriate investigation will be carried out as soon as circumstances allow..."

"Fortunate violation of your rules..." Willow smiled a bit...

"I only wish he'd tried it sooner..."

Indeed...Arthur smiled faintly at her...

"Henry...?" Cicely hurried over to her cousin...Lying flat on a cot...He feebly raised a hand...Trying to sit up...But gave the effort up, sinking back...

"I would say... "I'm quite all right, Cicely"...But I don't quite think you'd believe me..." he chuckled at her weakly...

She shook her head, sobbing quietly...

I will be set to rights soon enough, though...he noted...

"I never should have let you get mixed up in this, Henry..." she grasped his hand...

"Not your fault, dear...I rather underestimated your opponents, I fear..." he grinned at her...

"Next time I..."

"There'll be no next time...!" she cried...

Never again...!

"Now...Cousin, don't be selfish..." he smiled up at her stricken face...

"There's plenty of potential heroics for all of us..."

She stared at him...

Just what William would say...She knew it...He'd demand to fight with her...With no more success...

And when the pride learned just how important he was to the Slayer...Oh, God...

"Cicely?..." Henry looked in her haunted face...

"Enough!..." she jumped up...Putting her hands up at him and twisting away, she fled the room...

"Cicely!..." he called...Turning to Jonathan who nodded at him and rising from his seat, hurried after her...

A staggering Angelus half-dragged his anxious "daughter" after him down through the vast sewer tunnel they'd escaped to from the tavern cellar after Dru'd sensed intruders closing in and screamed him awake...Her awakening ably aided by her "demon godmother"...

Sadly, there'd been no time to inquire after dear Darla...Naturally the noble Angelus putting his "daughter"'s safety above all else...

"Grandmother?..." Dru eyed Angelus as he paused to get his bearings...

"We'll raise the finest monument in England to her...Somenight..." he patted her hand...

But for the moment...Your "Grandmother" would have wanted us to survive...Find safety and happiness together...

(Darla?...Vladimir nearly choked, suppressing laughter...)

"Now, dear..." he turned to his beloved vamp "daughter"...His remarkably gifted vamp "daughter"...Thank God for clairvoyance...And his own wise foresight in securing Dru for his little family...

"Do you sense those men in pursuit of us?...The Slayer?..."

"No, Angelus..." she shook her head...

Excellent...he sighed...Eyeing the dank walls of the sewer tunnel...

"I suppose we'd best press on and find some place to rest down here until nightfall..."

"When my Prince will..." Dru began eagerly...

"Yes, yes...Fine...Tonight, go and find your Prince...By all means..."

"But...For the moment...Just keep trying to sense if anyone is following us?..."

"Hmmn...The Slayer is very angry with us...With Grandmother especially..." Dru noted...Giggling a bit...Served the fool human right, trying to take her Prince like that...

The...Slayer...? Angelus stopped his push into the tunnel and looked at her...

Angry?...

With us...?

Specifically...? As opposed to her generalized dislike of our kind?...

(I know I can't see why...Vladimir thought...Angelus would never have dared go near her, let alone take her on, if she hadn't gone hunting him...)

Oh, yes...Dru nodded...

"Grandmother hurt her somehow...Ah..." she smiled... "She hurt a relative of the little Slayer back there...Oh yes, the Slayer's very angry...And frightened..."

Frightened, eh?...Angelus beamed within...

Frightened of the mighty Angelus pride...Led by its noble male...

"She wants to keep Him...But she knows He is Mine..." Dru solemnly intoned...

Uh-huh...he nodded...More nonsense, he sighed within...

Still, she may be right about the Slayer...And it is definitely time we considered taking up residence in a new locale...

"Grandmother..." Dru gasped...Looking off in the distance...

Yeah, yeah...Angelus rolled his eyes...

"We will mourn her...Somewhat later..." he gave an airy wave...

But...she pointed...

To where, from a branch tunnel, a somewhat the worse-for-wear Darla was making her way towards them...

The Slayer and Council no doubt in hot pursuit...Angelus sighed...

"Darling..." he smiled at her...She gave him a cold glare...

"I'm burned..." In more ways than one, she thought...Glaring at her "family"...

Where's the damned water?...she demanded...

There...he pointed over to where the sewer water ran...

Eeggh...he thought...If she's gonna soak in that...Think I'll pass on her tender caresses today...

"Did you meet the Slayer, Grandmother?...I saw her last night...She's very pretty...Just like my Lady..." Dru babbled, leading Darla to the rather foul stream...

Shut up...Darla glowered at her...

Ah...Back in the bosom of my loved ones...Angelus looked heavenward...

Thanks, God...

Levinson returned empty-handed...Cicely had fled the building, in quite an agitated state...

"Headed for that husband of hers, I suppose..." Chairman Rathskeller sighed at Simon...

Poor girl...he shook his head sadly...

"We have asked much too much of her all these years..."

Willow frowned in silence...Farris looked solemnly at the Chairman...

"If young Foxcroft is settled, I should return to my rooms, Arthur..." he noted...

"She may seek me there later...And I can continue my attempts to locate the pride..."

"Simon..." Arthur eyed him... "While I appreciate your efforts...You know I cannot condone the use of such magics officially...The Council may decide to censure you, or worse, if you continue..."

"I understand..." Farris nodded...

"But I can hardly be expected to do nothing...I am willing to take my chances with the full Council later, my friend..."

Especially as I know they will buckle when I parade my victory over the Angelus pride in front of them...he smiled within...

Very well...Rathskeller rubbed a weary face...

"I'll leave it to you, Simon...But, take special care, my friend...I'll see those on watch duty about town pass on to you any information they glean..."

"Many thanks, sir...I will keep you informed as well if there are any developments..." Simon bowed slightly to the group and headed out...A very pleased man...

"Best if the rest of us headed out as well and tried for a little sleep...Miss Rosenberg? A moment if you would?..." Arthur looked to her...Willow came over as the others left...Jonathan heading for the stairs to check on Henry...

"I'm quite well..." she insisted... "I'll continue my own researches here..."

No frail flower this red-haired rose...she thought proudly...Pinching herself to stay awake and swaying slightly...

"Perhaps..." He smiled gently at her... "It might be well if we had a cot set up for you in one of the small rooms here..."

"Well...For later..." Willow nodded, stifling a yawn...

"You...And your people have done noble work this night, Miss Rosenberg..." Rathskeller nodded to her...

"And we have left our target considerably rattled..."

"But...There is one thing more I would ask of you this day...After Miss Ad...Mrs. Walthrop has rested a bit at home..."

Willow eyed him...Hmmn...?

"If you could speak to Mrs. Walthrop about the situation...Woman to woman...It might help her to realize we are not her enemies...That I want to do what I can to ease her burdens..."

She frowned..."Sir...I seriously doubt that I am the person to speak to her...Perhaps you..."

"I am the Chairman of the Watchers' Council, Miss Rosenberg..." Arthur sighed...

"To poor Cicely right now, I am simply the leader of those who would force her back into her work...Separate her from husband and family..."

"The only one of us she's ever trusted is Simon...And even he can do little with her now..."

"Please, Miss Rosenberg..." he smiled gently at her...

"I truly feel it could help here..."

She nodded...And smiled back...Ok...

"I'll do what I can...If she'll speak to me...But I have to tell you, I don't approve of her actions...To abandon her Duty like this..."

"Try to understand her..." he sighed... "She has been our Greatest Slayer...Fighting alone against terrible opponents at long odds...For ten years now..."

"Her only joy in life...Her family...Or what was left of it after her mother passed away..."

"Even that we urged her to give up...Demanded, rather...And finally seemed to have convinced her that she was endangering them as her enemies learned more about her..."

"And now, young Mr. Walthrop has come...Given her a hope of love and something approaching a normal life...And once again, her calling...her Duty...Is about to rob her of all she has to make life worth living..."

"You think...She's going to send him away...Don't you?..." Willow stared at Rathskeller...

"I fear so..." Arthur nodded sadly...

"And what is worse...I must hope so...For you see...Willow..."

"One way...Or another...Humanity must have a Slayer..."

"Haven't helped matters much, have I?"...Henry sighed from his cot to Jonathan now sitting next to him...

"Did your best, old fellow..." Jonathan smiled at him...

"After all...Vampires are a bit out of our line...As old Andrew would say..." he grinned...

"You think she might have gone to Will?..." Henry looked over at his friend...

"I drove past your flat's building...Walthrop was out and about some little time ago...Unlikely she could have reached him before he left..."

"I'll check the house in a bit..." Jonathan continued... "She might simply have gone home..."

"I've made a pretty mess of things..." Henry shook his head...Stretching out on the cot a bit...

"It will work out for her...I'm sure of it..." Jonathan replied...

God make it so...Henry rubbed his face...And smiled a bit...

"My cousin...The Slayer...The savior of Humanity...And London's social Queen...All in one...Incredible..."

"Not a bad matrimonial choice Walthrop's made, eh Jonathan?..." he chuckled...

"Cicely always was a woman to die for..." Levinson eyed him, smiling a bit sadly back...

"Indeed, my friend..." Henry nodded...

"But...For her happiness' sake...We must see to it that Walthrop does not die..." Jonathan finished...Looking firmly at his friend...

Simon had estimated a wait of one to two hours...And so was quite pleased with himself when Cicely appeared at his door about an hour and a half after he'd reached home...

"What can I do, Simon...?" she eyed him...

Tell me...

"My dear...I have no new information..."

No...she stared at him...

"Not the pride...William..."

"What can I do to save him...?"

"Please...Help me..." she pleaded...

"I've been selfish...Foolish...But I can't just stand back and wait for him to die..."

"You've always helped me, Simon...Help me now..."

Perhaps...he paused...

"Perhaps you can protect him, Cicely...You are after all, the Slayer..."

"You know I can't...They know who he is...They're coming for him..." she twisted her hands in desperation...

"My one chance was to kill them last night...I failed and now...They know my family here as well..."

"I can't leave London...Abandon Henry and the others...And if we stay...William will die...Perhaps even worse..."

"But if I tell him to go...He'll refuse...If I tell him the truth, he'll first think me crazy, then insist on fighting with me..."

"What you need, my dear...Is more time...Time to deal with the pride and destroy them..."

If...Simon pondered..."If you could make Walthrop leave you...Return to Cambridge without you..."

"Just until we can locate Angelus and the others...And finish with them..." he noted...

"Nothing would make him go..." Cicely shook her head...

"He'd never go..."

Unless...she paused...

Simon eyed her...Waiting impassively...

"Unless he believed...I made him believe...That I didn't...That our marriage..."

Yes...Simon nodded..."If you could..."

"No...I couldn't do it...I couldn't..." she shook her head...

"Not even to save him?..." Farris looked at his charge...

"He'd hate me...Forever..." she stared at him...

I couldn't...

"I see...Well, perhaps he will survive...With us trying to protect him..."

"I can't Simon...I couldn't say what I'd have to say...Never..."

"He'd know I was lying..."

"Yes...He probably would..." Farris nodded...

"But...Suppose...It wasn't you...Merely someone who...Posed as you..."

"And said...What had to be said to drive him off..."

She stared blankly at him...Simon rose and paced the room...

"There are creatures, dear...Who can be bargained with..."

"Who have the abilities you would require..."

"The creature I summoned to help me find the pride last night is one such...An ancestor of yours in fact...And concerned with your welfare..." he noted...

"She...It...Is already well able to assume your form...And with information from you...She might even fool your William..."

"What bargain...?" Cicely stared at him...

"Difficult to say...She asked for nothing last night..." Simon noted...

"But she may require more for this..." he leaned against his bust of Caesar...Drawing strength as he sensed the coming triumph...

"Summon it..." she told him coldly...

"Now..."

"Will you promise me...Cicely?...That you will take care in dealing with it...? Do nothing that would jeopardize your immortal soul...?"

She nodded...

Following Simon's instructions, Halfreck took her time appearing...But after some diligent chanting, she manifested...In Cicely's form, startling her, briefly...Though she almost immediately regained her composure, looking over her smiling twin with a careful, cautious eye...

A true copy, no doubt...

"Leave us, Simon..." Cicely eyed him...Haly cocking her head in a very Cicely manner as she watched Farris nod and leave quietly...

"Miss Addams...Sorry...Mrs. Walthrop..." Haly beamed...

"Forgive my little costuming...But my kind take pains to disguise themselves in your world...And I am a very distant ancestor..."

"Mr. Farris has explained all that to me..." Cicely waved a hand...

"And your present appearance is what I would require..."

"And your wish is...?" Haly smiled...

"First...What do you want?..." Cicely stared coolly at her twin...Amazing...Even she couldn't tell...

Ah...Halfreck liked a client who got down to business at once...

"Very little...Merely an opportunity for my lord...D'Hoffryn...To speak with you...At the moment of your death..."

"So..." Cicely eyed her... "Your lord wants my soul, eh?..."

"Not exactly...More like...He would like to offer you...And your demon...A position in our firm...As one united being...Soul and demon merged...Like the rest of us..."

"But it's not an offer you would be obligated to accept..." Haly noted hastily...

"And he would not presume to make the offer before your moment of death..."

"And what does your... "Firm"...Do?...Precisely..."

"We deal in...Justice, miss..." Haly nodded proudly...

"Justice for the wronged and the oppressed...The betrayed and forgotten..."

"It's not all that far from what you do now..." she smiled...

"I seriously doubt that..." Cicely frowned...

"Your Watcher can confirm all that I've told you...Merely have him consult the Council's books on D'Hoffryn..."the demon watched her hopefully...

"Joining us must be a voluntary choice..." Haly emphasized...

"All my lord D'Hoffryn asks is a chance to approach you...And make his offer...When the time comes..."

"You believe you could make my William believe it was me...?"

"I could..." Haly smiled proudly...

"William..." she looked solemnly at the wall...

"I am truly sorry...But...I cannot see a future in which you can be a part of my life..."

"I can't see you at all..."

Cicely glared at Halfreck a moment...

"I'm not sure that I believe you...That you can do what you say or that your demands would be so

limited...I will think it over..."

"Think...Quickly...My dear..." Haly twirled her parasol...

"His time is running out...Rapidly..."

"Drusilla is seeking him out even now..."

"You know where Drusilla and the pride are?..." Cicely grabbed the demon...

"Tell me!..." she cried...Shaking her...

Haly vanished...And reappeared ten feet away...

"My dear...You are fortunate that I understand...And sympathize with your plight...Else I might take offense at your action..."

"But..." she beamed..."You are a descendant...And in love...Ready to sacrifice your heart's desire to save your love..."

"How can I be harsh with you?..."

"I wish I could lead you to the pride...Or destroy them myself for you...But...There are limits to what I can do in your world...And they are on the move..."

"In daylight?..." Cicely stared...

"The Angelus pride has its ways...Darla escaped your Watchers in daylight..." Haly noted...

"And they have some ability in magic..." she smiled...

"At least enough to conceal themselves from me...Now that they know I am assisting you..."

"Drusilla is an amazing creature...As you know, my dear..."

"It was she who called to you the other night...She who is seeking William now..." Haly looked solemnly at her descendant...

But hey, after 4000 years, the family ties were a trifle weak...

"If he remains in London...Even a single night longer..."

Cicely waved a hand...

"I must speak to Mr. Farris...My Watcher...And consider what you've told me..."

Of course...Haly nodded...Twirling the parasol again...

Cicely paused a moment...Haly watching her...

"He's beneath you..." Cicely eyed her...

"That's what you must say...Tell him that...It will break his heart..." She looked away...

"It's what he fears most...And secretly believes..."

She looked back at the demon...

"But that is not meant as my having accepted your offer...Yet..."

In the bag...Haly thought...Nodding carefully...

"I am available to you at any time, dear...Merely have Mr. Farris instruct you as to my summoning..."

Very well...a red-eyed Cicely turned away...And stopped...

"Lose the parasol, miss...I only carry one in strong sun...And I would never twirl it like some addle-brained, vapid fool..."

Indeed...? Haly smiled coolly...

"How clumsy of me...I should be more careful...If I am to represent the Slayer herself..."

The parasol vanished...As did the demon a moment later...

Cicely closed her eyes and rubbed her face in despair...

Beneath me...That will do it...I know it will...

And no matter what happens in the fight later...Even if I survive and destroy them...He will never forgive me for it...

Except perhaps...In Eternity...She pulled out and carefully looked at her wedding ring...

Even Simon Farris, human monster that he had become, couldn't help but be moved when he re-entered the room and found her on her knees...Hands behind her head, face covered by her elbows...Rocking in despair, tears quietly rolling down her beautiful face...

I have lost her...he realized...

And she will die when he is lost...Perhaps even throw herself gladly to his demon...

I have killed...The only child I ever had...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my

"Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XVII...

"So..." At the Fowler and Fowler, Ltd. warehouse, would-be home of the Angelus pride, Andrew cheerily addressed his companion, a female Observer, one of two Council staffers posted there by Rathskeller before he and Willow's team had left...

"No signs of them?...These vampire people, I mean..."

Not as yet, sir...she told him patiently...For the tenth time in the last hour...

"Perhaps you might care to return to your home, sir?..." she noted...Hopefully...

"I can have a carriage brought round..."

"No, no...Not necessary...I'm quite all right here...And my brother Tucker might be a bit put out to find you lot here if I wasn't round to explain things...Smooth things over and all..."

"Yes, sir...Your assistance is appreciated..." she sighed...Continuing her rounds of the building with him at her heels...

"So..." he started again...

"How does one deal with this lot?...The fangs and all?..."

"Bit out of my line, you understand..."

"Anything wooden, sir...Though the heart...Will destroy them..." the woman patiently explained as she checked a row of crates...

"And direct sunlight will burn them..."

"Ah..." Andrew nodded wisely...

"Not too up on such creatures, you know...Though I did see a play æbout them once... "Varney the Vampire"...Ever see it?...Quite a good show, really..."

"No, sir..." she smiled wanly...Continuing her search...Hmmn...she looked at a crate...Stamped as "Fragile:China"...A few wisps of white powder seeping out one slightly battered corner...

"Those are from China..." Andrew beamed...China from China, actually...he chuckled...

Hmmn...China...And something else...she thought, eyeing him...

"What do you suppose that stuff is?..." he looked at the powder...Kneeling down to put a finger on it...

"I wouldn't touch it, sir...I believe it's opium..."

"Opium...? The stuff the poor wretches over there smoke?...Hanging round their dens all day with glazed eyes and all that...?" Fowler stared at her, startled, and rose quickly...

Indeed...she eyed him coolly...

"It's used by wretches over here as well, sir..."

"Well...Must tell Tucker about this...At once..." he noted...

"Can't allow this sort of thing..."

Either he's very good...she thought, watching him carefully and reviewing the location of the weapons on her person...Or he's a very good, if rather dense young man...

"I am sorry, my dear..." Halfreck sighed to Cicely...Now in her own bedroom...Two hours after she'd left Farris' rooms...

A desperate Cicely having decided to learn the extent of the demon's abilities...Could it...she...Protect Will from the pride, Drusilla in particular?...

"My abilities in your world are somewhat limited...I can take physical form...I could inflict a certain amount of pain and suffering on human enemies of your husband...But against other demons, including vampires..."

"I'm afraid the best help I can offer you in this is to make him leave you...Following the course you yourself suggested..."

Cicely stared at her intently...Then looked away...At a small clock on her fireplace mantlepiece...It would be sunset in approximately six hours...The party would begin at eight...

Some other way...There must be some other way...Find them and kill them...Or I could still take him...Run...

A knock at the door...Anne the maid...

Haly had vanished by the time Cicely had opened the door and taken the note the maid offered her...

Miss Wilhelmina Rosenberg requesting a few minutes of Miss Addams' precious time...

"Anne...!" she opened the hallway door and called to the girl who returned...

"Send Miss Rosenberg up...I'll meet her here..."

Well?...Farris eyed Halfreck as she stood in the center of his parlor...

Getting a bit tiresome she noted with all this back-and-forth...Still, all part of a justice demon's job...

"She's very close but hasn't made up her mind..."

Simon frowned at his "partner"...Time running out...If Cicely and Walthrop met at tonight's affair, the little fool was sure to let her heart win out over her head...

"You must persuade her..." he insisted...

"Her request must be voluntary, Mr. Farris...I can't compel her to do a thing..."

"There is such a thing as subtle persuasion, Miss Halfreck...Remind her of Walthrop's danger...And that you are her only hope of saving him..."

"I'll do my...Oops...Must fly..." she vanished...

"Miss Addams...Sorry...Mrs. Walthrop..." Willow stared at a clearly distraught Cicely...Pacing her bedroom...

Rather nice bedroom, Willow couldn't help noticing...

The maid, Anne knocked...Bearing a note...

"It's from the Chairman..." Cicely handed the letter to Willow after looking it over quickly...

"My cousin is recovering nicely from his injuries..."

Good...Willow nodded... "Very fortunate we were at hand..." she noted, carefully eyeing Cicely...

"I appeal to you to consider the situation rationally...London...And your own family are in danger...And if you leave with your husband tonight...You are placing him in danger as well..."

"The Angelus pride is sure to..."

"I know what the pride is capable of!..." Cicely shouted at her... "And I know my God-damned Duty to Humanity!..."

"I need no one to tell me of it!..." she raged in Willow's face...

"I see..." Willow said coldly...

"Then I hope you make the right decision, miss...For your husband and family as well as all Humanity...Good afternoon..." she got up and left the room...

"The choice...Miss Addams, er Mrs. Walthrop...Is yours to make..." Halfreck smiled benevolently...As she somewhat wearily faced her potential client yet again...

D'Hoffryn should pay me by the mile for jobs like this she thought...

"Can't you protect William?...Once he leaves..." Cicely stared at her "helper"...

"I can only try to monitor him for you...I can't guarantee his safety..." Haly noted...

But surely...she paused..."Surely he's safer away from the Slayer...Than in her enemies' sights..."

"Can you be here...In three hours' time?..." Cicely eyed her... "In the correct clothes...And ready to take my place?...With the words I told you to use..."

"You're beneath me...William..." Haly intoned...

"I'll meet you in the upper balcony...Just down the hall from here...At exactly 9:45..." Cicely told her...

"Excellent, my dear...And I will do my best to save him..." Haly vanished...

It is the right thing...It must be...Cicely told herself...Pacing her room frantically...

Play (After The Ball...)

AFTER THE BALL...

"A little maiden climbed an old man's knees—

Begged for a story: "Do uncle, please!

Why are you single, why live alone?

Have you no babies, have you no home?"

"I had a sweetheart, years, years ago,

Where she is now, pet, you will soon know;

List to the story, I'll tell it all:

I believed her faithless after the ball."

"Bright lights were flashing in the grand ballroom,

Softly the music playing sweet tunes.

There came my sweetheart, my love, my own,

'I wish some water; leave me alone.'

When I returned, dear, there stood a man

Kissing my sweetheart as lovers can.

Down fell the glass, pet, broken, that's all—

Just as my heart was after the ball."

"Long years have passed, child, I have never wed,

True to my lost love though she is dead.

She tried to tell me, tried to explain—

I would not listen, pleadings were vain.

One day a letter came from that man;

He was her brother, the letter ran.

That's why I'm lonely, no home at all—

I broke her heart, pet, after the ball."

Chorus:

After the ball is over, after the break of morn,

After the dancers' leaving, after the stars are gone,

Many a heart is aching, if you could read them all—

Many the hopes that have vanished after the ball.

10:00pm...The party well under way...Guests milling about the large parlor and downstairs rooms...

Including one William Soames Walthrop...Looking rather anxious as he stared about the place...No Cicely yet in sight...Well, she'd be down...He decided to return to the small sitting room and try to get in a bit more work...

An increasingly nervous Cicely fretted above...

Can this be the right thing?...To drive my poor love away like this...?

She stared out over the balcony rail...To where Halfreck was making her descent...A bevy of desperate gentlemen hanging on the stair railings to greet her...

That fool Henderson standing at the foot of the stairs...Saying something to dear Will as he passed...Moron...The one who'd tried to pin that nasty title on him the other night at dinner after listening to a sampling of William's work...

All right, it hadn't been Will's best effort...But he'd been nervous with Papa around and all those elegant fools staring him down...And there was nothing really wrong with "effulgent"...

Certainly nothing to deserve Henderson's vicious little sobriquet...

Bloody Awful...

That jealous toff jackass...She acquired a bit of Will's slang in their time together...

In a just universe someone would stick a railroad spike through the fool's skull to let some brains and sensitivity in...

Or perhaps...A wooden stake...Yes...She smiled a bit wickedly at the thought...

William had followed the false Cicely into the parlor...

She sat with clasped hands...Still holding that which she'd brought from her bedroom...

A small yellow stuffed pig...

What should I do...? she thought...

If I stop Halfreck now...I must tell him all...

And if he doesn't denounce me as insane...He's sure to insist on fighting with me...He'll die...

What should I do?...

Oh...God help me...! she thought...

He's brave...she heard a voice...

And he'd rather die with you...Than without you, girl...

She looked about the room...No one...

Hurry...the voice whispered...

Who?...she stared about...

Go now...There's no time, girl...

But...Who...?

Ahem...Your guardian spirit...Now move it, girl...

But...

Are you going to sit here and let him die?...Hating you...?

Cause that's what's about to happen...Go!...

Like Hell!...she hopped up from her chair...Racing for the stairs...

Well, Mr. Gordo thought...From where he'd fallen when she'd dropped him on rising...

She'd never have believed the truth...And I am sort of a guardian angel...

Ow!...he thought...The pain of the floor bump penetrating...

"William!..." she raced down the stairs at Slayer speed...A startled group eyeing her...

But...She just went into...?

In the parlor, Haly heard her client's cry...

Shit...! What the hell...?

What an idiotic little fool...Can't she make up her mind?...

Lord, the trouble I've gone to and now...

Still, William had just fled the room and reached the front door...

A wild-eyed Cicely stood at the parlor entrance...

"Halfreck!..." she cried... "Where is my husband!"

Several gentlemen and the one other lady in the room caught sight of her and looked confusedly back at Halfreck...

"Ta, ta..." the demon grinned, vanishing...

Cicely raced away...Leaving that group and others now wandering in in some confusion...

"Did you see...?" the escort of the lady turned to his female companion...Who'd come up with an immediate explanation...

"Cicely is doing her magic tricks again...Like when she made a man disappear at a party at the Churchills two months ago..." Harmony Kendall explained to her beau...

"He was there...And then...Just dust..."

Whoa, wait...Husband...?

Cicely's...Married?

Why that little...Just like her to try and trump me again...Her greatest nemeses...Nemesis?...In the swirling battle for control of London society...

Well, Harmony Francis Kendall would respond to her "friend"'s latest move on the checker...er chess board...

There must be some pawn or rook or horsey thing around to move...?

A somewhat pale and wan looking Henry Foxcroft entered the parlor...A couple of gentlemen and their ladies beside him, asking with regards to Cicely's strange departure from the house...As well as inquiring about his health, owning to his suddenly frail appearance...

Hmmn...Henry...Her cousin...Her extremely wealthy cousin...Who should know all there was to know about this "marriage" thing...She hurried over...

"That was a neat trick, Henry...Cicely was in rare form..."

Trick?...he eyed Harmony...Wearily taking a seat...Still rather at odds after the blood loss and all...

"She made her double appear...And disappear...Before she ran out...Tell us, how did she do it?...Mirrors?..."

"And what was that about her...Husband?..."

Double?...Henry eyed the vapid little fool...Husband?...

"She's left?...Where is William?..." he looked around the room...

"She or her mirror double was talking to him and he ran out...He seemed a bit upset..." Harmony noted...

Guess she finally got tired of his hanging around...

"Henry...?" she looked after him as he hurried out...Towards the front door...

In the street outside the Addams-Foxcroft townhouse, William paused dazedly in the street, pulling out something from his pocket...

A ring...Which he raised an arm to throw...

And suddenly found himself hurled to the ground with a considerable weight on top of him...

A weight which was?...Yes, it was...Fervently kissing him...

"William, William..." Cicely sobbed, but held him firmly down...He blinked up at her...

Quite a girl...

Henry raced up, wobbling a bit...Standing with a rather crooked grin as he surveyed the spectacle of the Walthrops on the ground...Cicely spread-eagled over poor Will...

Jonathan came hurrying up from the house...Staring...

As gradually did a number of others...Including Fowler...And dear ole Henderson...Who made a desperate effort to reconstruct the scene to his own liking...

"Walthrop, get off her!..." he raced over...Looking for someway to pull Will out from under a determined Cicely...Who wasn't sure quite what to do...But had no intention of letting him up until absolutely sure he was safe...

"GET AWAY!..." she raged at Henderson...Who pulled up short at her rather terrifying growl...

Well, if alls well, perhaps I should just...he blinked at her...

"GO!...Before I..." she continued...Pointing away from the house...

"Will?..." she looked down...

"Sorry...You alright?..."

"Is this what you had in mind with that "beneath you" remark?..." he called up to her...

Oh, my God!...she looked at his hand...

"Did you throw your wedding ring away just now?...William!...How could you?..."

"It's right here, Cicely...He dropped it when you slammed into him..." Henry grinned, bringing it over in his fist...

Wedding...Ring...? several deposed former suitors looked at each other...

Him...?

"Oh...Is Walthrop married?..." Andrew asked Jonathan...

"Yes, old fellow..." Jonathan sighed...

"And so is Mrs. Walthrop..." he smiled gently at Cicely...Now returned to fervently kissing her husband...

"NO...NO...NO...NO...!" Dru screamed in her alleyway...Clutching her head in her hands...

Oh...! a voice within sighed...

Lost...Forever...No one will ever come to help me...

(We all know Angel certainly won't)

"No!..." Dru cried...Never forever...

"LADY!" she screamed...

"You have lied to me!..." she sobbed...Smashing her hands against the bricks until they bled...

"She was ready for me, somehow...It wasn't my fault..." Halfreck whined...D'Hoffryn on his throne in his vast and icy palace, glared at her...

"Now you're making excuses, girl?...You knew a Slayer would be a tough nut to crack..."

"Go back...And see this thing through...Press that vampiress and her trapped soul to use her abilities properly...Get help from our human Watcher friend if you must...But make this happen..."

"Your future with me...And your existence...Depends on it..."

She vanished, sobbing a bit...Her parasol no longer twirling...

Anyanka stepped forward...

"It was a tough assignment, D-H...And you know as well as I do this Cicely was helped...By a pookah..."

Silence!...He glared...

"We never mention our competitors...Remember that, Anyanka..."

Pookahs...Anyanka shuddered...Human-friendly spirits who dwell invisibly around them, often taking up residence in inanimate but beloved objects...Favorite chairs, ship models, much loved toys...And their true form...The most hideous of all...

Giant rabbits...(One day their helpful efforts and concern for Humanity to be immortalized in a much beloved Jimmy Stewart film... "Harvey"..."The pookah takes many forms, but is most famous when he appears as a giant, six-foot white rabbit ? which is the form most Americans know from the play and film, Harvey. Whatever form the pookah takes, he retains the special ability of his species, which is like that of Thoth in Egyptian legend, Coyote in Native American myth or Hanuman the Divine Monkey in Hindu lore, he can move us from one universe, or Belief System, into another, and he likes to play games with our ideas about 'reality.'')

"I won't tolerate failure on this one...Especially with..." he grimaced...

"One of those involved..."

All in all I'd say thank the demon god B'aal I didn't stay with this case...Anyanka thought...

Don't think it's likely to lead to rapid career advancement...

"ARRRR!..." Drusilla threw herself at the suddenly appearing Halfreck...Still in Cicely guise...

Rather useless attempt...Haly teleporting two feet to the side before she could reach her...

"You lied to me!...He is not coming!..." Dru glared...But sensed further effort at revenge was useless for now...

"I'm so sorry, dear...He was better protected than I knew..."

"But...There's no reason to abandon the hunt..." she smiled at her insane "friend"...

"My Prince...Gone!...I...What?..." Dru blinked at the vengeance demon...

"You have great power within you, Drusilla...Great abilities...If you'd only concentrate and use them..."

"You must cultivate patience, dear...You could stand to learn from your poor sister in there...She's very patient..."

Hmmn...The human soul sister...Lonely, trapped, desperate for rescue...I wonder...Am I utilizing the best Drusilla for this job?...Perhaps...

Dru was calming and staring at her...Sensing...Whoops...Best to put such thoughts the back burner, Haly realized...

Well...Lets let nutcase have her second chance...

"Drusilla!..." Halfreck sharpened her tone... "You do want Mr. Walthrop, don't you?..."

Yes...Dru shook her head vigorously..."He is My..." Haly nodded quickly, waving to cut her off...

"Drusilla, he's still going to be in England and will even be coming to London at times...And you have all Eternity, my girl...Just try and be patient...Your time will come, if you can concentrate and focus on your goal..."

Let your sister help you...She wants him too...Haly smiled...

"Come, lets talk a bit and see if we can't plan out a course of action..."

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my

"Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XVIII...

Out of the frying pan...

William and the Walthrops' secret marriage had been saved...At least for the moment...

However, that marriage was now a secret no longer...Not with a distraught Cicely atop William, refusing to let him rise until he'd promised to forgive and hear his loving wife out...

Even Andrew Fowler, standing beside his friend Jonathan Levinson in the crowd milling about the couple was beginning to get the idea...Apparently his "agreement" with dear Cics farther off than he'd assumed...

Still, this poet?... Not that Walthrop didn't seem a decent enough fellow and all, he noted to Jonathan...Bit of a startle that's all...

Hmm-hmmn...Jonathan faintly smiled back...Watching Cicely pleading to William...Who was having some difficulty getting his acceptance of her pleas for forgiveness out, given her holding him so firmly pinned in place...

"I say...Levinson..." Andrew regarded him kindly...

"Suppose this must be a bit of a rough thing for you, too...Rather fond of her yourself, weren't you?..."

"A bit rough, old fellow..." Jonathan nodded... "And yes, rather fond..."

"But I am glad to see her..." Uh-oh...he caught sight of an angry figure approaching fast...Sir Richard...

"Happy...? I should say..." Andrew started to nod...Then followed Jonathan's stare...Hmmn...Trouble there, I'd say...

"Cicely!..." A sharp voice cried out...

A furious Sir Richard Addams, Cicely's father, had formed a part of the crowd around the pair...

A tall, lean, and, when in rage, extremely menacing man with brown, graying hair...Coldly commanding his daughter to get off the young man...At once...

She nervously did so...The Slayer fleeing from her, leaving a rather terrified little girl...

"Papa...Please understand..." she began as William struggled to rise and Henry came over to them...

"I understand that you have made an ass of yourself, girl!..." he replied, his voice a cutting whip...

"Married, are you?..." he eyed Walthrop...Now standing beside her...The young man nodded silently...Cicely looking at him briefly...With a slowly widening smile...

Yes...This was the right choice...

Yes, Papa...she thought, looking at her angry father's red face...We are married...Still...Thank you God...And whoever that was... she sighed inwardly...

"You've done well, boy...My compliments...But then, I had the notion that my only child had a modicum of sense and decency..."

"Uncle Richard..." Henry began...

"Enough!...Cicely!...Come back to the house with me at once!..."

And you...Sir...Sir Richard sneered at Walthrop...

"I will speak to you...Tomorrow...At my office in town..."

"You'll make out well enough from this, I warrant you..." he glared at William...

"Well!..." Sir Richard glared at his daughter...Hesitating by her new husband...

Make up your mind, girl... A voice called to her...The same that had sent her out after Will...

Will sighed at his father-in-law...

"It was wrong of us to conceal this from you, sir..."

"Not at all...Sir..." Sir Richard smiled coldly at him...

"You would not be here now, an irritant in my eye, if I had known things had gone this far..."

Papa...Cicely stared at him...

But it was about what she'd expected...Sir Richard having little nonsense in his manner in dealing with "problematic" people...And enemies...

"Make up your mind, Cicely..." William looked at her quietly...

"Do you want to be with me or no?...It will be very hard, I think your father can promise that..." he stared at Sir Richard...

"Indeed, sir...It will be...For you both..."

Several servants, including Smike and Squears, were now coming up from the house...

"Smike!...Squears!..." Sir Richard called...

"Escort my daughter back to the house...Up to her room..."

"Not one step, friend..." William glared at Smike...Assuming a defensive stance...

Smike eyed Squears...Who likewise hesitated...

Nice positioning...Cicely beamed...Looking her husband's stance over with a professional eye...

Infuriated, Sir Richard walked over to Cicely...Who slipped back...He grabbed her arm as she took Will's...And pulled hers away from her father, quite vigorously to his shocked and slightly painful surprise...

"Enough of this, uncle!..." Henry looked at Sir Richard...Who turned to him...

"I see that you are in no small part responsible for this farce, Henry...I won't forget that..."

"My friend Will is a good man, uncle...And Cicely is a grown woman..."

"A remarkable grown woman..." he smiled at her...She giving a quick smile back...

"Cicely..." Sir Richard eyed her coldly...

"It is true that you are of age...And I can do nothing about your income from your mother, God curse the day she chose to leave it to a fool...But you will find living by it a far, far cry from the life you lead now...A life with this nobody...A life..."

"Beneath me...?" she stared back...And smiled at William...

"We'll manage, father..." she said quietly...Taking Will's arm, she turned away with him...Then back...

"Sir...I am sorry we had to deceive you...But, as you just pointed out...It was the right thing to do, under the circumstances..."

They turned away again from her staring father and walked out of the crowd on the opposite side...Henry following after a moment...As did Jonathan and Andrew...

Surely, police?...One deposed suitor suggested to his fellows...

Terrible thing, another sighed...But, sadly...Police have got these idiotic democratic notions about people's right these days...Not like Grandfather's day...When a lout like that knew his place or learnt it the hard way...

"Sorry to disagree with you back there, William..." Cicely grinned to him as they started off...

"Afraid I'm not the sort of wife who will never go against her husband in all things...Can you bear that?..."

"I'll manage, dear heart..." he grinned back...

"Braxton and Davies are here from the house, Sir Richard..." Smike came over to him as he watched his daughter walking away up the street...

"Shall we go after...?" Sir Richard gave him a grim look and turning on his heel, walked back towards the house, shoving members of the crowd out of his way...

"Well..." William stared at his wife, now carefully supporting a rather frail Henry to the carriage her husband had hailed...

"I suppose you'll explain that little scene back at the house to me...Later?..."

"Hmm..." Cicely nodded, helping Henry into the cab...She turned to face Will...

"Lets just say for now, darling...I had a little fear cloud over my heart...Just for a moment..."

"And never, never again..." she kissed him...

He smiled...Shaking his poor addled head...Well...

"I'll just accept the joy of the moment...And leave it at that..."

"Say...?" he looked into the cab...

"What's happened to ole Henry?...A fever or something?..."

"Or something...We'll explain back at the flat..." she stared at him...

The joy of this moment...Even if I die, he dies...Tomorrow...

On the ride to Henry's old apartments, Will kindly insisted on Henry coming with them to the new lodgings he'd secured near Cambridge, agreeing with Cicely that he was in need of careful nursing...And with his mother, Cicely's aunt, in holy terror of Sir Richard...It was unlikely he'd find much rest at home just now...

It was not so much the news of the catastrophic defeat that upset Farris as Halfreck's insistence that Cicely must have had warning...Someone or something, likely a guardian spirit, had chosen to intervene at what should have been Drusilla's moment of triumph...

Just like the Powers That Be to protect fools and idiot children...

Still, his partner seemed to feel there was still hope...Drusilla had been shaken by the outcome in rather a positive way...Seemed somewhat more focused on her goal now...A new determination to win out in the end, Haly happily told him...

Laudable, Farris noted dryly...But given the fact that the Walthrops were fleeing London even as they spoke...

"Mrs. Walthrop will be back...And so will her husband..." Haly smiled...

"Drusilla has seen it...And I agree...Cicely is the Slayer after all...Duty will pull her back here..."

"And I have secured our friend the services of a new advisor...Someone with a powerful interest in connecting with our Mr. Walthrop..." Her human soul...

"Hardly likely to be willing to help in killing him, wouldn't you say?"

"Not really aware of what's involved, poor thing...Still trapped in limbo..." Halfreck shook her

head...

"But desperate to reach anyone...And I believe I've convinced her he can be her salvation...If she helps our demon lady to find him..."

"Well..I leave that to you...But I begin to think it may be best to abandon efforts with Mr. Walthrop..." Farris frowned...

"My best course may well be to see that Cicely "retires" as quickly as possible now..." he eyed Haly...Who frowned in her turn...

"We have an agreement, Mr. Farris...My lord is counting on your keeping it...And that agreement calls for us to bring Mrs. Walthrop to the point of such despair and remorse...or anger...that she will be responsive to D'Hoffryn's offer...That accomplished, her death should follow quickly, of course..."

And the key to driving Cicely to that happy state...For us...Is Drusilla...

"After all..." Haly beamed..."What would bring a Slayer to greater despair than seeing her own husband transformed...And, perhaps even having to destroy him..."

"Poetic, really..." she noted...

Hmmn...The thought had not been lost on Simon even previously that that despair and more important, that anger, might find a focus on him, once Cicely was dead and aware of his role...

Not a happy thought...To accomplish his goals only to immediately become the object of a super-vengeance demon's rage...Still, they were required to operate though the wishes of others...And by the time she would've found a suitable wisher...Some enemy of his or perhaps a relative of hers...He'd be protected by all the secret powers of the Council and its most powerful allies...

Just a matter of making sure she'd not learned of his role until she was unable to do him harm...And he still thought it unlikely she'd ever turn to an afterlife career as demon even for vengeance's sake...No, so long as Walthrop's soul was departed from this vale of tears, his dear Cicely would have only one interest at death...To find that little husband's soul and scoot off to Heaven...And the peace she so desired...

Yes...he thought, staring at his "partner"...Arranging Walthrop's death...In the proper manner...Was still a matter of prime importance...If anything, more important than ever...

Several days later found a worried Cicely in the small house Walthrop had rented for them, facing the greatest challenge of her career...As she stared at the book of recipes she'd found in her new kitchen...

How to cook a full meal without a small army of servants...

With her mother gone, Slaying, and her father requiring her services to manage their home and servants, while assisting him as secretary and hostess for his parties, her direct kitchen skills had been even more limited than most upper class young women...Though she had tried to learn a bit in the past few weeks, with her marriage imminent, and had successfully mastered the art of making William's favorite dessert, fairy cake...A great deal still eluded her...

Will, having anticipated her inexperience...And rather experienced in the kitchen, of necessity, had kindly attempted to assist her, to her embarrassment...

But naturally she couldn't allow him to think her some useless fool...And while it'd been nice to have his help on the first simple meals...Just warming things brought from the local grocer's and baker's...She had insisted on taking things in her own capable hands for the first fully home-prepared meal while he and a nearly recovered Henry were at their classes...

"Now...Sir...Here is the arrangement I propose..." she addressed her standard Slayer speech to the object of her intent...A large chicken, recently deceased...

"You shall be rubbed and stuffed and cook quietly on your back in that oven..." she pointed to the large, kerosene-fueled oven...

Along with your companions...she noted several potatoes...Onions...And a small heap of string beans...

"While I review my choice of options for entry into the special classes..." she eyed a listing of classes for which non-matriculated students were offered admittance...

Of course, William's uncertainty had been something of a goad...

"Perhaps...You should consider hiring a girl today instead of later...Someone to help..." he'd suggested before leaving...

Help?...she'd eyed her husband...

This wasn't like the laundry...Where she'd gratefully accepted his assistance...He again being experienced of necessity...And their budget not allowing for experimentation with his few decent school clothes...

Or the cleaning...Where, reminding her of the miserable life of drudgery he'd seen his mother endure, he'd insisted that it was his job as well as hers...And that if he were willing to defer to her experience in this...Slaying, she called it?...Surely she could accept that in his dreary former careers in various factories of his home town of Brusset he'd acquired far more direct experience in heavy cleaning than she...

How difficult could it be?...The Greatest Slayer of All Time versus a plucked chicken...And its vegetable allies...

As light a task as a piece of the fairy cake she'd be making for dessert, she'd noted...Sending him off with a fervent kiss for him and a hug for Henry, with a promise of a fine dinner to mark his recovery and return to his own lodgings...

Might do well to eat a good lunch...Henry'd quietly noted to Walthrop as they'd made their way onto the campus...

He'd been the pleasantly smiling recipient of most of Cicely's recent efforts back in London...

"Good news from my grandfather in Transylvania..." Willow noted...Waving a letter at Chairman Rathskeller as she entered his office at the Antiquarian Hall...

"It seems old Count Dracula has kept his word to date...And grandpa included a daylight photo of himself to confirm he was ok..."

Rathskeller looked at the distinguished Dr. Van Helsing standing with several of his staff, his clients the Harkers nearby as well...Mrs. Harker looking noticeably happier...

"All seems to going well..." he nodded..."And our own sources in Romania confirm that..." he smiled at Willow...

"The climax is near...They perform the ceremony in just a few days..." Willow beamed, reading from the letter...

Imagine...she smiled at the Chairman...

"All done for love...Of a woman who died centuries ago..."

"Well..." Arthur sighed... "The Count assumed his curse initially for love of his deceased wife...To take vengeance on those who'd caused her suicide...And the Church that had cursed her soul...Believing, foolishly, that taking on the vampire curse voluntarily would reunite him with her spirit..."

(Damnit...He is stealing Great-grandfather's story, Vladimir glared furiously...

Still...he looked at his author...Stoker seems intrigued...Perhaps we could make use of this...A second money-maker, following as sequel to our first?...

And it will be pleasant to kill Angelus after he's provided the whole thing...)

"But I hope Abraham will proceed cautiously...And call on our operatives for help if needed..."

"He wants to know how I'm doing..." Willow sighed, reading on...

"Guess there's not much good to report there..." she eyed Arthur sheepishly...

"You may tell him...As I already have written him...That the Chairman is most impressed by his granddaughter's efforts...And believes we will succeed..." Rathskeller smiled at her...

Such a sweet guy...Willow smiled back...

But a little too willing to sugar-coat things...Gramps won't be fooled...she frowned slightly...

Well, just a matter of knuckling down and searching every possible haunt where the pride could be...

"We must simply redouble our efforts..." Arthur noted, beginning to pace...Echoing her thought, she noted rather happily...

Fortunately the pride seems to be laying low since our last encounter...he paused to point out...

"But there's no physical evidence that they've left London...And my psychics still feel the presence of our Miss Drusilla..."

"Drusilla, Drusilla...Drusilla..." Angelus, ever the kind if stern pater...Eyed his "daughter" firmly as he held her in a vise grip while savagely striking her with an open hand...Darla coldly watching...

To wander off...While they were pinned down in London with the Council and its Slayer hunting them so intensively...Wasting precious hunt time...Worst of all, coming back to them at their new, rather miserable hiding place in the sewers...Fortunately without a trail of Watchers at her heels...And all for the sake of the ridiculous "Prince" of her wild tales...Now on her distraught return, mainly of her Prince having evaded the trap her demon Lady had set...

God, just transform the first moronic human male you see ...he noted to her...Releasing her as she whimpered a bit...

See this little fellow...He pointed to a photo of William Soames Walthrop in yesterday's Times...The story of Miss Addams fleeing her home with a secret husband naturally attracting some little, rather sternly disapproving editorial attention...

"Some fool like him would do just..."

"My Prince!..." Drusilla exclaimed...Grabbing the Times...

That was him...

"Wasn't it a lovely one, Grandmother...?" she beamed, bringing the paper over... "Such a fine, handsome one..."

"Mum would've been pleased..." a fragment floated up...

"Nonsense! Never go off like that again!..." Darla glared...Tossing the paper aside and shaking her...

"Or I will do the honors rather than your "father"..."

Dru stared at them...A slow burn glare now appearing on her face...

The Lady had said she was strong...Had strength she'd never used...

And that the little sister...The Bad One...Would help her...

It was dawning on her that the Old Ones never would...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XIX...

Play Theme for "Cicely the Vampire Slayer"...

Henry noted once again to William as they strolled onto University grounds that he'd taken Cicely's revelation of her unique calling the night they'd left London with considerable sang-froid...

Rather difficult to deny her tale...Will shrugged...With Henry himself confirming her story...

Especially after she'd had their carriage stopped on the way to quickly stake two vampires attacking a young streetwalker...

And after she'd reluctantly allowed his presence on her Patrols, (uneventful ones, she'd thanked God...Only one minor refugee from one of the London nests, just the first night)...of their new home area...Much as she'd clearly been pleased to have him at her side...

Really, the hardest thing after the initial shock, had been the realization that she'd tried to make him leave out of fear for him...That he couldn't handle himself...

Followed by a rather wondrous realization that she'd done it out of love for him...Fear that her initial wooing had selfishly put him at risk...And that she'd, in the end, decided to make the gamble, take the risk, likewise out of love...For the joy that they would share however transient...And with a new understanding that he was equally willing to accept whatever Fate sent them for the joy of that moment...

The poetic possibilities alone were sending his mind reeling...

Now however...He confessed...It was his turn to be afraid...And worry that he'd been selfish...

"She'll always be worrying about me, Henry...Much as she wants to have faith that I'll make out all right...And it may put her at risk...Watching out for me..."

"I don't want to be a drag on her...A burden..."

"Frankly, I don't think I was much use on her Patrols these past nights...Though she was kind enough to say I had potential..."

Hmmn...Henry eyed him...

"So the obvious solution..." William sighed...

"Is training..."

Hmmn?...Henry eyed him...

"After all, I wasn't too shabby a fighter back in old Brusset...I held my own against some fairly large hulks back in the factory yards..."

"But I need more training in use of weapons, and more efficient fighting techniques..."

"Might not hurt to learn a bit more about the research end of the family business as well...She was rather keen for me to do that...Thought I could make a real contribution now that she doesn't have constant contact with her Watcher..."

"Though I have no intention of sitting at home reading over books on demonology and the occult while she's out risking her life..."

"Perhaps when we go to London tomorrow to meet with Mr. Gilbert, I can speak with that Farris fellow a moment..." he noted thoughtfully...

I'll see what she thinks tonight...

They were reaching the building at Trinity College where their joint first class was held...Will paused a moment as they neared a small group of students...

"But, getting back to the training..." he continued...

"You know the athletics end of the University much better than I...Whom should I contact?..."

Well...Henry pondered...And thought, rather pleased...My good and noble friend...I knew he was the right man for her, almost from the moment they met...

A surprisingly practical man for such a romantic young poet...But then, he'd had to fight for his right to be a romantic...In some of the worst slums in England...

Yes...My cousin made the right choice...

"Hendricks, the boxing master, might be of help...Scholls the fencing master knows most sword-type weapons...And I think you'd be right to contact Mr. Farris in London...Though I would suggest trying to meet with that Mr. Rathskeller as well...It's my understanding that he is the head of the Watchers' Council..."

"And they're anxious to keep some contact with Cicely..." William nodded thoughtfully... "However little they may approve of her choice of spouse..."

"Speaking of your trip to London..." Henry leaned against the building they now stood besides, still a little removed from others...

"Are you ready for the formidable Mr. Gilbert?..." he smiled...

No...William sighed and smiled...

"But I'll do my best...And hopefully he'll find my efforts worthwhile..."

It was not the fire, started when she set her burning chicken on the small kitchen table...Nor the strangely lumpen potatoes which refused to mash smoothly...Nor the gravy tasting much like wall plaster...Nor the dress, ruined when the heated iron she'd left on it burned through when she ran to put out the chicken in the kitchen...Nor the vanished time she'd planned to employ in cleaning the house, what little left over from her kitchen efforts being lost in trying to figure out how to permanently remove the dirt which her sweeping efforts seemed only to succeed in moving from one spot to another...That left Cicely reduced to tears...

No, the Slayer was not to be discouraged by a few minor disasters...And most could be retrieved with a desperate plea to one of the neighbor wives...

It was her visitor...The forthright Miss Rosenberg, out from London, having used the resources of the Council to track her down...

Not too difficult a task, Willow'd admitted...William and Henry being enrolled students...And the Walthrop's habitation being duly registered...

A flustered, smoke-begrimed Mrs. Walthrop having done her best to try to properly greet her unwelcome visitor...Bearing equally unwelcome news...

Both the Council and her group having failed to find any new trace of the Angelus pride, she'd come in part to plea with the Slayer...

And in part, to warn her...

Drusilla, according to information gleaned from psychic members of the Council...And confirmed, Willow noted, by the Slayer's own vision sensations...Reported to the Chairman by her own cousin, Mr. Foxcroft, before he'd left the Council's care...Had a common interest with Mrs. Walthrop...

In a certain young, newly married poet...

"This vampire...Our "Miss Drusilla"...Willow paused...Cicely sitting across from her in the Walthrops' little parlor...Having reluctantly agreed to hear her visitor out...

"She has a child's brain in a fiend's body...A vicious child's brain to be sure...Growing but slowly over time as all vampires' do...But with a child's willful determination to have what it wants...Regardless of consequences..."

"In this case, it wants your husband..." she eyed Cicely...

"And even the fact that you are the Slayer...Her greatest enemy...Is not going to stop her..."

"Nor will your hiding here..."

"Gilbert and Sullivan..." Angelus beamed... "Capital idea, girl..." he nodded...

Now that was more like it...High time we got out of these sewers and got some pleasure out of this miserable sojourn in London, the Greatest City of the World...Dru seemed finally to be picking her spirits up, he happily noted to Darla...

Who grimly rolled her eyes at her idiotic mate...Go off to the theater?...With the entire Watchers' Council and their Slayer breathing down their necks...?

"So...?" the indulgent paterfamilias Angelus returned to his dear "daughter"... "What performance are we going to see...?"

"All..." Drusilla smiled gently back...

All...? Angelus blinked at Darla...Indulgent father as he was, that was likely to be rather...Expensive...

"The Savoy Theater will be our new home..." Dru explained calmly, smiling up at her "family" from where she sat...

"The Savoy?..." Darla stared at her...

"The most popular theater in London?...Are you insa..." she began but realizing the obvious answer...

"We can't move there, you little fool..." she glared...

"We'll stay hidden...Take no one there..." Dru replied, quietly eyeing her agitated "grandmother"...

"You wanted a safe place...It's the last place the Council or the Slayer would look for us..." she explained...

"And it's where I must be..."

"To find "your prince"...?" Darla sneered...Dru simply looking back at her...

Something's changed in her...Darla realized...

Our little maniac has either acquired some sanity and stability...Or is so far gone that nothing disturbs her...

Hmmn...Angelus eyed his ladies...When you come to think of it...It's not so bad an idea at that...he noted to Darla...Who fumed at the spread of insanity around her...

"There are watchguards, people all around constantly..." Darla shook her head...

"I can deal with anyone who sees us..." Dru said serenely...

"A small mountain of corpses at the Savoy will not keep us hidden, you fool..."

"I don't intend to kill anyone...There...Just see to it they don't remember seeing us...At the wrong times..."

No...Darla said, firmly...

"This is simply insane..."

Yes...Dru replied, quietly...

"And I need your help, Grandmother...So you must..."

"Enough!..." Darla...Who knew a challenge when she heard one...Rose, furious...Only one Queen of this pride...

"Don't be upset, Grandmother..." Dru said calmly...Staring into her eyes...

"Look in my eyes...Be in my eyes..."

"You're not upset..." she intoned softly... "You're quite calm, now..."

Darla was quiet...Staring...

Angelus watching, startled by the sudden power shift...

"Sit down, Grandmother...You're very calm and content..." Dru told her...

Darla slowly sat down...Angelus staring in wonder...And a growing pride...

My little girl...

"You can see now that my idea about the Savoy is a wise one, don't you, Grandmother...?" Dru asked a quiet Darla carefully...She nodded...

"Yes, Dru...It is...Wise..."

"And you want to help me...In any way you can...Don't you, my loving grandmother...?"

"Yes, Dru..." Darla smiled vaguely..."I want to help you..."

"Any objections...Father?..." Dru eyed Angelus...Who put up his hands...

"The Savoy sounds just fine to me, girl..." he smiled...A tad nervously...

"Is Darla going to stay...Like that?..." he waved at the still blankly smiling Darla...

"For now at least...But I think she's happier this way..." Dru noted...

Thank you, sister...she thought...

The Lady was quite right...We are stronger as one...And we will have our Prince...When he comes, as we saw...

Whether the Slayer lets us or not...

Your promise...A weak cry...I will harm no one...We will harm no one...Or I will not help you again...

No one...Who does not try to stop us...Dru answered within...

We are one, sister...It's too late to run from me now...Too late to hide from what we are...

From what Angelus saw in you...

Merciful God...Forgive me...

God has abandoned us, sister...And all we have is each other...

And him...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my

"Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XX...

William returned a bit early alone...Henry having a late class...

He'd thought it wise to pass on library work today and see if the new Mrs. Walthrop might be needing a little minor assist with her first solo dinner...

He arrived to find the house in some disarray...Smoke from the kitchen fire still smelling strongly throughout...And his wife in intense conversation with a small, young, red-haired bespectacled woman...With an unusual air of authority...

"William...?..." Cicely looked up from her chair...

Hastily looking around the room...Oh...

"This is Miss Rosenberg...A relative of the famous Dutch physician, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing..."

Sorry about dinner...she sheepishly noted...

A little trouble...

But William had other concerns...The world-famous Van Helsing...Physician...

After all, he wasn't up on Slayer physiology...Maybe Cicely had kept something else from him...?

"Is something wrong...?"

"Yes..." Cicely gasped... "No..." she shook her head...

Miss Rosenberg frowned slightly from her chair...

Such foolishness...

I mean I realize her beloved is in danger but...Really...

She is the Slayer, after all...

"Are you all right...?" he asked Cicely anxiously...

What?...she stared...Oh...

My sweet Will...she beamed at him...

"Oh...Yes, darling...Quite well...This isn't about me..."

He looked from one woman to the other...Well?...Ladies...?

"Dr. Van Helsing has a "side career", Will..." Cicely explained...

Like mine...

Oh...

Well, he reflected...Makes a kind of sense that a great physician would be assisting in the fight against the forces of Evil...

"And he is coming...To assist you?..." Will looked at them...

"Dr. Van Helsing...Was occupied..." Willow smiled...

"Council business...In Transylvania..."

"I am...His chief assistant..."

"You are Dr. Van Helsing's assistant?..." William stared at the slight Miss Rosenberg...Blinking...

"Well...The doctor is my grandfather..." Willow replied...

"But I assure you...I am well versed in these matters...This letter from the doctor will testify to that..." she handed him a brief note signed by Dr. Van Helsing, the same sent to Chairman Rathskeller, attesting to Miss Rosenberg's skill in matters supernatural...

"Is this all to do with those...Creatures...In London?..." he asked...Briefly glancing at the letter...

Willow nodded...

"The Angelus pride...Particularly one member..."

"But you say...My Cicely is not the one in danger?...Are they threatening the Queen?...Someone important?"

"Someone...Far more important..." Cicely eyed him...

Henry returned about two hours later to find a thoughtful William and a rather pale and pensive Cicely sitting quietly in the little parlor...Miss Rosenberg having left for her return train to London after securing a promise from both the Walthrops that they would meet again with her and the Chairman in London tomorrow...

First full dinner at home apparently no longer on the agenda...Cicely vaguely suggesting they eat in town...

On the ride in, Will explained the reason for their distracted behavior...

"Drusilla...? Wants you...?" Henry eyed him...

Cicely gave a slight frown...Why wouldn't she want him?...

"But how does she know you?..."

"It's my fault..." Cicely sighed... "She knows who I am...And...So..."

"I knew this would happen...That's why I let that Halfreck...It's all my fault...I was selfish..."

No...William patted her arm...

"We've settled all that, my girl...No regrets...Whatever happens..." he stared at her...

"We won't lose each other..."

She breathed deep, nodded...And took his hand...

"Whatever happens, William..." A firm look in her eye...The Slayer's mate was not to be trifled with...

"And Miss Rosenberg...?" Henry looked at them...

"Does she think Drusilla can be stopped...?"

"We're meeting with the Chairman tomorrow..." Cicely noted...

"After Will has his business meeting..."

"And she will be stopped...Whatever it takes..." she finished...Firmly...

Drusilla eyed the stagehand kindly...

"My family and I will be staying down here...We count on you to help us, sir..." she stared at him...

"I know you have a kind heart and will keep our presence here a secret..."

"Yes, miss..." he replied...A bit dazed...

Angelus...Though disappointed by the passing up of an easy meal...Smiled at his "little girl"...A true monument to his ability to select first-rate candidates...he noted to Darla, standing a bit wanly beside him...

Yes...Darla nodded...

There'd been quite an improvement in his dear mate's personality he happily told her...She seemed to be taking things much more...Calmly...

Yes...she smiled contentedly...

Perhaps...She wouldn't mind scrubbing his boots a bit?...Before she went out to hunt for them?...They'd been tramping through the sewers for so long, after all...

"Yes, Angelus..." she quietly nodded...

My little girl...he beamed at Dru as she gently guided the stagehand out...

(Hmmn...Angelus must have been in Paradise...Vladimir noted to himself...Must see if Darla's still under that thrall...Maybe I could break it for her...Be interesting to see her reaction...)

William was right...Cicely noted to herself...As they sat in the train to London, his arm round her shoulder...

It was time to stop regretting her actions...She had a right to love and be loved...And that was that...

Moreover...It was high time she remember who she was...

The Slayer...

Not some fool victim to hide in a corner waiting for the vampire haunting her and her own to come for them...

Action must be taken...Here and now...A line be drawn...

This "Drusilla" was about to learn what it was to confront the Slayer...And threaten her family...

In no uncertain terms...

And no better place than where the creature still made its home...London...

And no better time...Daylight...Especially with William safely off to his meeting with Mr. Gilbert...

But...She'd already tried a hasty offensive...Even with Council aid, she'd failed...No...To succeed, she'd almost certainly need to mount a long-term campaign...

She'd need help...And she wanted to operate on her own...Without waiting for the Council to deliberate, reach its conclusions, and...with luck...act...Though of course she'd make use of anything the Chairman, Miss Rosenberg, and Simon offered...

After all, their goals would of necessity, differ slightly from hers...She wasn't fool enough to think Miss Rosenberg had come to warn her simply out of the kindness of her heart...It was even possible they'd considered using William as a lure...

No way...Let 'em use Victoria if they want bait...

But if Will got his position with Mr. Gilbert...And would be making the occasional daylight trip to London...Night-time too, perhaps...Though only under his wife's careful guard...The opportunity to take the fight to the pride's home ground on a consistent basis would be offered...

A long-term campaign...While Will worked safely in the offices of the Savoy by day...And under his Cicely's careful watch at home or elsewhere by night...

And, in addition to dear old Henry...She knew just who to turn to for help...

It was high time the Slayer recruited her own independent team...

"Sweetheart?..." Will stared at her as she mused...

Hmmn...?

"All well?...No regrets?..." he eyed her...

"Very well..." she nodded... "And never a regret...Darling..." she beamed...Nestling her head on his shoulder...

Poor Drusilla...she thought...To become the sole focus of the Slayer's attention...

Not entirely facetiously...

Jonathan blinked at the card, hand-delivered at a rather startlingly early hour...

"My dear Mr. L..." the card began...

"Can I presume on you to meet me at 10:30 am at the Shropshire Groves' Tea House...?

Yours,

Cicely Walthrop..."

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my

"Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XXI...

Simon Farris, Watcher extraordinare, skilled delver into matters occult, and master of deceit and subterfuge, was not a man to be easily surprised...But of all possible visitors, including a number of inhuman ones, this was one of the last persons on Earth he would have ever expected to be visited by...

Sir Richard Addams, Cicely's father...He turned the card passed on to him by the boy tending his building's door over in his hand...

Hmmn...What could the man possibly want with him?...He'd met him no more than once or twice in all the years Cicely had been his charge and in those meetings he'd never shown any interest in him or the slightest indication that he suspected his daughter's antiquarian friend was anything more to her than a source of rare volumes and manuscripts...

Still Sir Richard was a powerful man...With powerful connections...And a reputation for utter ruthlessness in his political and business dealings...It was barely possible he'd somehow learned a little about Cicely's "secret life"...

Well, best to conceal all cards for the moment...And see what use this visit could possibly be put to in his efforts against his headstrong Slayer and her fool of a husband...

He nodded to the waiting boy to indicate that his visitor should be ushered in...

"Sir Richard?..." he came forward to the door, offering a hand...

"To what do I owe this pleasure...?" he eyed the tall man carefully...

"Farris..." Addams was curt...Taking the chair offered...

"Miranda..." Farris called the building's servant girl...Daughter to the landlady...

"Please have your mother send us up some tea?...There's a good girl..."

"No need..."Addams frowned... "This is not a social call..."

"But...I am having my morning tea, Sir Richard..." Farris eyed him coolly...

"Which, you are most welcome to share in..."

Yes...he thought...As Addams sourly sat back...

Best not to let oneself be bowled over by this one...Sir Richard is the type to smell fear and make the kill, instinctively...Little wonder his daughter had become the greatest Slayer to date...

"What can I do for you?..." Farris took the chair behind his desk...

"How well do you know my daughter, Farris?..." Sir Richard was blunt...

"Cicely's been one of my best clients for many years...And is a dear friend who shares my love of the ancient..." he smiled...

"You've known her since she was a young girl...She's talked of you at times like..." Addams squirmed a bit... "Like someone she might confide in..."

"Are you asking me if I know of her marriage...? If so, the answer is yes...As of six days ago..."

"And you know the fool...Him...?" Sir Richard waved an angry hand...

"Only through Cicely's description of him..."

Sir Richard leaned back...And gave a hard stare...

"She remains in contact with you...Is meeting with you today?..."

Simon smiled slightly...And nodded...Yes...

"But only...So far as I know...To discuss some matters of interest to her in her studies..."

"Studies she will not be pursuing much longer, I am sure...On her little income, with him to provide for..." Addams sneered...

"But...What is your opinion on all this, Farris?..." he looked at him...

The Watcher hesitated...

"I hate the thought of Cicely losing all her advantages for a single headstrong act...I know the world and how it deals with the headstrong...And yet...She seems intent on following her heart...Wherever it leads her..."

They paused as Miranda arrived with tea...She set the pot down and giving Sir Richard a surreptitious sidelong glance for her report back to Mum, headed out...He waved aside Farris' proffered tea cup...

"I'd appreciate it...If you'd meet with me after you speak to her today...And let me know what she's said to you...Anything she says to you..."

"If it will not violate any confidences on her part, I should be happy to..." Farris replied...Sipping quietly...

"Don't be a child, man..." Addams glared... "I've no intention of playing polite games here...I can break a fellow like you while out walking in the park...I can also make him a very comfortable man..."

Sir...Farris drew himself up coldly... "If I assist you...It will be for Cicely's benefit..."

And my own...he did not say...

"I will have my man Smike contact you this evening..." Sir Richard stood up...Pausing...

"It will be for her benefit, Farris...She must be made to end this foolishness...Whatever must be done..."

He left Simon pondering the possibilities...

Help, potentially...Of a substantial kind...That would surely leave a...widowed?...Cicely ready to operate on a whole new moral plane...Guided by the mentor who'd done what he could for her...And her poor William...Provided Sir Richard would prove as ruthless as his reputation...

And provided his own role would remain concealed...

Certainly less risky than his arrangements with Halfreck and D'Hoffryn...

"So..." the portly gentleman leaned back in his chair to eye a nervous William...Now standing in the offices of the Savoy Theater...Henry, having left the two men to their discussion, off to pay his respects to various friends...In particular, several favorite actresses of the company...

"This is our famous Mr. Walthrop...Welcome, sir..." the gentleman waved him to a chair...

Will eyed the posters on the wall behind the man's desk...HMS Pinafore, The Sorcerer, and a large one for the theater proclaiming More Triumphs to Come in the upcoming Season...

"I understand you're a poet and writer of some promise..." WS Gilbert eyed his visitor...

"A poet...I hope a writer of some promise..." Will replied, trying to keep his composure...

"Who has managed quite a feat in winning the heart of Miss Cicely Addams..." Gilbert smiled briefly...Then turned and pulled out some papers...

"Your material here...Is not too bad...You've a good comic touch if something of the sentimental at times...You follow the Romantic poets I suppose...?"

Well...I suppose I...

"Idiots, the lot of them...Best to get them right out of your head, young fellow...Useless fellows, too, for the most part...Shelley never learned to swim and drowned...Byron went off to Greece thinking he'd be met by Socrates and Pericles leading a revolt against Sparta...Bits and drabs of their stuff are useful for the comic element or to make the ladies swoon a little but mostly...Rubbish..."

He leaned back...

"I understand for all your poetic notions, you've had to make your way the hard way...School of knocks and all...I understand a bit of that...Unlike dear Arthur, I've known a few hard days in my time...That's the experience that will stand you in good stead, boy...Never forget it...Do you swim?"

Will blinked...Trying to follow everything... "Swim...? Mr. Gilbert..."

"Yes, yes...Swim...In the water...I swim as often as possible...So therefore, unlike our dear precious Mr. Shelley, I will never drown..."

"A little...My people lived inland...I'd never seen the coast but once or twice as a boy until I came to Cambridge and traveled a bit..."

"Well...I highly recommend that you learn to swim as well as possible...Avoid Mr. Shelley's lamentable fate..."

Now...As to your work...He paused...Looking again at the manuscripts Henry had provided...

"I have a new concept in mind...Something a bit different from our previous efforts..." he frowned slightly...

"It seems dear Arthur, my partner, has gotten a bit bored with our recent productions...Wants something new and challenging...So, I naturally rose to the task and generated...This..." he handed Will a large portfolio...

Will stared at the papers in his lap...The title caught his eye... "The Mikado..."

"Yes...Set in Japan...Just the thing to catch the public's eye right now what with all the current interest in things Japanese...Kimonos and trays and so on...What do you think?..."

I...Ummn...Will looked over a few more pages...

"Absolutely...Guaranteed to be our next great success...Well, young man...Your first assignment is to help me with revisions...And any original ideas you might come up with..." he looked him over...

"I must say I rather enjoyed your little piece..."The Vampire as Metaphor..." Quite amusing with the scholar and his theory of female passion and all..."

"Not exactly something for the general public just yet..." he grinned..."But highly indicative of your "potential"..."

"Yes...I think we could work together if you can keep your end up...Well, shall we go find D'Oyly and see you set up...I'll see if I can find Arthur lurking about later..."

"Mr. Gilbert...I..."

Well...Gilbert looked at him...

"You want it or no...?"

"Absolutely, sir...I appreciate the chance..." Will paused...But...?

"The salary, sir...And I do still have my degree to take..."

Gilbert beamed...Excellent...A practical fellow at that...

"I will require you here two-and-one-half days, though you will be able to take some of the work home at times...Plus the other evenings after six for emergency rewrites during the production...As to salary...You should hold D'Oyly's feet firmly to the coals..."

He rose...

"Come, sir...I haven't got all day and you will need to make some fair copies of the sections I'd like you to get started on...Though it will be a week before we set to work here, I'd like you to be ready to begin with a clear idea of the material...Week should allow you enough of a honeymoon, I'd say, eh...?"

They leave the office and pass by the main stage door...From behind which the famed actor George Grossmith can be heard rehearsing...

"If you give me your Attention" from Princess Ida...

"If you give me your attention, I will tell you what I am: I'm a genuine philanthropist- all other

kinds are sham.

Each little fault of temper and each social defect

In my erring fellow-creatures, I endeavour to correct.

To all their little weaknesses I open people's eyes;

And little plans to snub the self-sufficient I devise;

I love my fellow creatures- I do all the good I can-

Yet ev'rybody says I'm such a disagreeable man!

And I can't think why!"

Chorus: "He can't think why!"

Grossmith, Chorus: "He/I really, really can't think why!"

"To compliments inflated I've a withering reply;

And vanity I always do my best to mortify;

A charitable action I can skillfully dissect;

And interested motives I'm delighted to detect;

I know ev'rybody's income and what ev'rybody earns;

And I carefully compare it with the income-tax returns;

But to benefit humanity however much I plan,

Yet ev'rybody says I'm such a disagreeable man!

And I can't think why!"

Chorus: "He can't think why!"

Grossmith, Chorus: "He/I really, really can't think why!"

"I'm sure I'm no ascetic;

I'm as pleasant as can be;

You'll always find me ready with a crushing repartee,

I've an irritating chuckle,

I've a celebrated sneer,

I've an entertaining snigger,

I've a fascinating leer.

To ev'rybody's prejudice I know a thing or two;

I can tell a woman's age in half a minute- and I do.

But although I try to make myself as pleasant as I can,

Yet ev'rybody says I'm such a disagreeable man!

And I can't think why!"

Chorus: He can't think why! He can't think why! He really, really can't think why!"

"Not today..." Cicely reluctantly put down the purse an eager clerk in the shop had handed her...A beauty, but at least for now, well out of Walthropian price range...

"Ah, perhaps, something grander..." the clerk beamed...

"No, no...I'm just looking today...On my way to an appointment at the tea house..." she sighed at the bags... "Perhaps next time..."

Indeed...the clerk beamed again...Escorting her to the door...

She peered in the window a last time...Childish...Foolish...she berated herself...The Slayer and have more important concerns...

I am not going to allow myself to regret something as foolish as this...

And yet...she sighed...

Damn...One silly bag...

One silly bag that would clean out our funds for the rest of the month...

Well, I am truly in love...No question...

And now, I will act to prove it...And secure it...

"Cicely...?" Jonathan paused beside her, startling her out of her reverie...

"Buying something?...I saw you from my carriage..."

"Oh, no...Just looking...Jonathan...Thank you so much for coming..." she patted his shoulder...

"An old married woman can take such liberties..." she grinned at him...

He beamed...

"You may be married...You will never be old for me Cicely..." he smiled...

Never be old...she thought...A little chill passing over her heart...He looked at her still face...

"Anything wrong?" he asked...

She shook her head no...And smiled again...Offering her arm to be taken...

But I will be old, she thought...Will and I will be old together...The Slayer's curse will be broken for this Slayer...And her love and family will be kept safe...

"When we're inside...I'll explain why I asked you here, Jonathan..." she told him quietly...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XXII...

"I'm so sorry, Cicely..." Jonathan sighed to her...As he and Andrew returned to her following their careful checking of the third old building reported to either Simon or Miss Rosenberg via the Council as having shown signs of potentially suspicious activity in the past evening...

"Bad luck there..." Andrew nodded in agreement...Turning to see Henry and William likewise returning from the next building on their list...She shook her head at Jonathan, smiling...Nothing to be sorry for...Simply another site eliminated from the list...

"I expect this to take sometime, Jonathan...All I can say is...How deeply Will and I appreciate your kind help in this...You, too Andrew..." Fowler beaming...Nothing at all, he noted...

They'd gone far beyond the niceties in the last few days, she'd noted two nights before in choosing to adopt a first name basis among her team...

She couldn't call the dearest friends in the world, risking their lives to save her Will and herself as well as countless others...by anything but their first names, regardless of any impropriety...Sentiments Henry and William heartily seconded...

"Our Miss Drusilla must be somewhere..." Jonathan sighed... "Hasn't the Council noted any further activity?...Surely these creatures must needs feed sometimes..."

"Could they have left London?...She and the others of this...Pride...?" Henry looked at Cicely...

"I don't think so...: she shook her head... "Drusilla is still here...I feel it..."

"The Chairman and Miss Rosenberg both believed she was still in town as well..." William noted...

Simon too...Cicely nodded...Eyeing the others...

Such an amazing thing, the human capacity to adjust to new wonders, new realities...In just a handful of days, sweet Jonathan, dear old Andrew, noble Henry, and above all, her beloved Will had completely immersed themselves in the study and destruction of the creatures of the underworld...And under her careful eye had become quite a competent team...

Though her guilt at endangering her cousin and friends remained deep...Despite all their assurances that each considered it no less than their duty...Not only to their dear Cicely and her lucky Will, but to Humanity, to be here...She felt a rather profound joy...

She wasn't alone in the fight anymore...They were with her...Her beloved husband and her noble friends...Taking action against the thing that menaced her happiness...

And William Soames Walthrop had, as she'd expected, shown himself to be a truly worthy Slayer's mate...Training with dedication...Improving with each Patrol...And almost embarrassingly good at the research end...Never her strongest suit, she'd had to confess to him...

Even in the old days, with the Council behind her, to the extent that their cautious procedures allowed, she'd never felt so braced...So supported...

Except perhaps, by dear Simon...Who'd saved her so many times in the past and was continuing to do what he could to keep her supplied with information...As, she had to concede, were the rather annoying Miss Rosenberg and kindly Chairman Rathskeller...

Though she was cautious enough of their motives to refrain from placing all knowledge of her group's activities in their hands...

They shared her desire to locate and eventually destroy Drusilla and the rest of the pride...But beyond that...Their interests sharply diverged, she knew...

And she knew enough Council history to be aware of its capacity for ruthlessness where what its members deemed to be the security of Humanity was at stake...

Sooner or later...Almost certainly once Drusilla was dealt with...They would attempt to regain control over their Slayer...Or take whatever steps were necessary to ensure that a Slayer would be available to them...No matter how kindly disposed to her the Chairman might seem personally...He was entrusted with the safety of Humanity...And would the appropriate steps to ensure that safety...

Even dear Simon had seemed startled by her assessment of the Chairmans likely actions...Dear ole Arthur Rathskeller?...

"He's a good man...A kind man...But a dutiful man..." Cicely had summed up to her old Watcher...

"He'll do what he feels he has to...If that means sacrificing William...Or me...He'll regret it, but he'll do what's necessary..."

William fortunately had taken an equally clear-eyed view of the situation...And agreed with her, now that he understood more about the Council...

They were powerful, they viewed themselves as Humanity's bulwark against Evil...And all the polite and honorable little restrictions on ruthlessness tended to fade away with the truly powerful once they had to actually deal with the real world...

Machiavellian?...he'd shaken his head in response to Henry's question at dinner the other night...No, say rather...Metternichian...Concerned with maintaining stability, the balance of power, in this case between good and evil...

He'd make it an even bet that if they really could completely remove the vampire/demon curse from this world, they'd hesitate...Cicely's story of the Slayers' legend hadn't surprised him...

Power rooted in darkness and the legend that the final destruction of these evil underdwellers would end her power as well made absolute sense to him...

To remain powerful, one must have someone to exert power over...And the powerful like their place...However noble their intentions may be...

"Meaning...You think you and Cicely will never be safe from them...?" Henry had stared at him...As she had...

"We're safe while were of use to them...After that...They may hesitate a bit...But I'd recommend we keep as far out of their reach as possible..." he'd grinned at his wife...

"I was right...You are a dangerous radical..." she'd grinned back...

Of the Anarchist persuasion...he'd nodded... "Meaning...I trust nobody but the people I love..."

"But...If you feel we can't trust the Council...?" Henry had continued...

"We can trust them to a point...No further..." Will had eyed Cicely...Who'd nodded firmly...

In his rooms, Simon Farris looked up from his book...A rare find, a book dealing with the nature of the lord of vengeance demons, dear ole DHoffryn himself, a handy thing to have about one when one is conducting dangerous negotiations with such a fellow...He had a visitor...

A rather appropriate one, considering his reading material for the evening...

"Mr. Farris..." Haly beamed at him...In her best Cicely voice...

"Miss Halfreck..." he rose, eyeing her coolly...

"Do you have any progress to report?..."

She smiled...Waiting...

He waved her to a seat...Offered to call for tea...Which she accepted...

No need to skimp on the amenities, after all...And she'd been putting quite a bit of overtime in on this one...

"I do have some progress to report..." she took her teacup with thanks...Just one lump, with lemon...

"Our Drusilla has found a new home...In the very place where our dear Mr. Walthrop is now employed...The Savoy Theater..."

"The Savoy...?" Farris nearly dropped his teacup...

"The most popular theater in London?..."

"What the devil is the foolish thing thinking?..." he stared at her...

"Drusilla has been quite rational in her planning...I think she's made a good deal of progress...With the help of her poor, limbo-bound soul of course..." Halfreck beamed...

"You see...She's made excellent use of her abilities...And restrained her natural penchant for violence..."

"No one has the slightest idea the pride is living there...Except for a stagehand or two she's put in thrall...And kept very much alive..."

"This is incredibly foolhardy..." Simon began... "If any one of them makes even a single kill there..."

"Dru has things very well in hand, Mr. Farris...I would recommend we leave it to her...For now at least...But I haven't come merely to report on her efforts..."

He eyed her...Well...?

"She will be in position to act very soon...But will need assistance...Someone to keep the Slayer off-balance, mislead her if possible when she makes her next attempt...Until she can secure Mr. Walthrop..."

"It would be foolish for me to risk tipping my hand at present...Unless it could be done with utter discretion...Even my assistance to you back with Foxcroft came close to raising suspicion...And if Cicely comes to distrust me, our cause is lost..."

Halfreck leaned back...Tips of folded hands to her lips...

Such a handsome, clever man...And so ambitious...Sometimes the idea of hanging round for a few decades in this world seemed almost appealing...

"Well...I would suggest then that you act with utter discretion...When the time is right..."

"It is essential...If we are to succeed..." she sighed...

"I'll consider it...However, I should tell you...There may be another course of action open to us now..." Farris looked at her... "One allowing us to bypass Drusilla entirely..."

Indeed?...Haly was honestly surprised...

"Cicely's father is rather determined to deal with young Walthrop himself...Permanently...And if Cicely were to become a widow at her own father's...Or at least his agents'...hands...And the truth of her poor husband's death revealed to her...By a loving friend..." Farris beamed benevolently...

Interesting...Haly nodded...Still... "Surely Sir Richard would take pains to keep any part played by him in the action concealed...?"

"He has invited...Threatened...me, I should say...To assist him..." Simon smiled... "Though not openly revealing his intent to me..."

"For Cicely's future's sake I have agreed to provide what help...In terms of information...I can..."

"And you're sure Sir Richard would be capable of such an atrocious act...? Rather than just driving the poor boy away...?"

"Sir Richard has quite a reputation for brutal ruthlessness in his more private dealings..." Farris eyed the demon...

"And I happen to know that he did in fact arrange an accident for an unsuitable fellow who once tried to insinuate himself with his daughter a few years ago..."

"An accident which, though it did not succeed, was intended to eliminate the troublesome fellow..."

"Oh...And who...?"

"Me..." Farris grinned...

"And I can assure you...I did restrain myself from further, more open efforts...Even in the privacy of my own rooms...After that little warning shot..."

Though Sir Richard remains unaware that I know of his attempt...

"He tried to have you killed?..." Haly stared... "What the devil did you...?"

"I'd saved her...In the course of a difficult battle with several fearsome opponents, all daylight-capable creatures, which was a new thing to her at the time..."

"Afterwards, on our return...She kissed me...Just outside these rooms..."

"I returned the kiss...Perhaps with more affection than I should have, given the situation...And my position as her mentor..."

Halfreck stared...

"An operative of Sir Richard had been following her and her visits to me...Naturally Sir Richard had become suspicious of her rather frequent visits to an old history scholar and dealer in antiquities..."

"I...Sadly...Had relaxed my vigilance a bit too much...And allowed the fellow to get his chance to obtain information placing me in a compromising position..."

"As I wasn't aware I was under surveillance I could not have Cicely offer a reason for her behavior that might have mitigated my role..."

"But...How did he?..."

"A carriage, driver paid quite handsomely to run me down...Which I learned from the man himself before I killed him in his rooms later that evening...

The operative told my people the rest later when they found him spying on me..."

"He then became my operative...With a little inducement from my people and my limited knowledge of magics...And I arranged for Cicely to explain the incident away to her father as resulting from my having saved her from a runaway horse...Not that far off the truth really, if one considers demons of the type we encountered..."

"After that, with care...I was able to convince Sir Richard though our shared operative that I represented nothing more than a harmless interest of Cicely's...Easily observed and no threat...Rather useful in keeping her away from other, more dangerous pursuits..."

"Sir Richard..." Farris concluded with a smile... "Is a commendably attentive father..."

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...

Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well...

.

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XXIII...

Transylvania...The Inn at Borgo Pass in 1896 where Angelus is telling his tale to young Dracula and his writer/partner Bram Stoker...

A ferret-eyed Willie, proprietor, returns to their table...Business rather good at this table tonight...Angelus impatiently waving for another round...

"Sorry, gentlemen...Help rather hard to get in these parts..." Willie apologizes profusely, and darts off...

"Sir..." Stoker raises a hand slightly... "Not wishing to interrupt you for more than a moment...A question, if I may...?"

"Please, my friend...And compatriot..." Angelus smiles indulgently...

Vladimir, taking the opportunity of the pause to look round the inn at his Roma guards, all well-positioned in case of trouble...Either from his table guest, Angelus...Or the infamous Mrs. Walthrop, famed Slayer, now apparently hot on the trail of said guest...

Though no doubt quite willing to deal with any additional creatures of the night she might encounter along the way...

Damn...Bad enough to face destruction at the Slayer's hands...But to be a mere incident in her hunt for Angelus...

Well, his guest seemed calm enough in the safety of the inn...

Stoker pauses a moment...

"Well, sir...You have mentioned a character...Whom I presume is meant to be my friend the Count here's famed ancestor...The subject I might note of our own joint tale...The original Vlad the Impaler...And of his being the object of pursuit by the very Dr. Van Helsing the Count has told me of...Who features prominently in our story..."

Ah...Angelus smiles at Vladimir...

"However...Your mention of the Vlad...The ancient vampiral Dracula...Rather as an aside...Suggests a different version of events than that which Count Dracula has given me..."

"Yes..." Angelus beams pleasantly at Vladimir who glares... "I rather suspected that would be the case..."

"You mustn't believe all the tall tales my good friend here tells, Mr. Stoker..." Vladimir smiles coldly...

"But..." Angelus cuts him off... "In this case, my version is the true one...Old Dracula did in fact seek Van Helsing's aid...Sought redemption...And agreed to release his latest victim, Mrs. Harker in exchange for that aid..."

Remarkable...Stoker eyes the vampires...

Particularly his business partner...Who frowns...The redemption story...God, what an embarrassment...Angelus might have had a leetle respect for the Dracula family name...

"Count, it is an interesting way of telling the tale...The vampire as hero..."

Already thought he was...Vladimir thinks...That Harker in our tale is just a fever-ridden, hapless wuss...He and his friend Morris just get lucky when Great-gramps lets himself be trapped and sliced for the lady's sake...

But Stoker seems intrigued...Oh, God...He's not going to suggest we take Angelus on as another partner in this venture...? Not a chance...This is a Dracule family business enterprise...

His frown deepens...However...

On the other hand...He considers...

It does seem to make a nice sequel...Rounding out our tale...And a second money-maker after the first would not be a bad thing...

Best of all...When Angelus finishes...We can dispense with him...A happy solution indeed...

"Well..." he smiles broadly, displaying the charm which had in part made the Dracule legendary... "Perhaps we should discuss it...After our dear friend finishes his fascinating tale of his vampiress and her Slayer nemesis...I've no doubt my ancestor will continue to appear in places...?" he nods to Angelus...

"Yes...Indeed...He plays quite a crucial if secondary role in my tale..." Angelus smiles back...

Vladimir blinks...

Secondary...Secondary...?...My ancestor?...The Original Dracula, King of the Underdwellers for 400 years...Secondary?...

"Well, if I may resume..." Angelus beams...

By all means, sir...Stoker waves a hand...

Vladimir glaring...Secondary?...

Oh...I am going to enjoy the surprise ending I have in store for my ole friend...Once he hands us the rest of our sequel to Great-grandfather's tale... Which I shall have my writer suitably edit to feature a Dracule prominently...

Perhaps a younger Dracule...Noble descendant to the Original...He smiles to himself...

The Savoy Theater, London, 1880...

(a reminder...In the Cicelyverse both the Savoy and Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado are completed ahead of their historical schedules)

Naturally, only concern for his dear ones had led the mighty and noble vampire prince Angelus to acquiesce to Drusilla's plan to base themselves in London's most popular theater...

Clearly his poor child's lunatic obsession with her Prince...Some ridiculous little human...Was leading her down a dangerous path...With Darla, now in her thrall, helplessly dragged behind...

(And this opportunity to abandon his little family bothered Angelus...How?...Vladimir thought...)

A situation to be handed delicately...Drusilla's new found powers had shown themselves to be quite formidable, if Darla's current state was any measure...

(So...She wouldn't let him go...Vladimir chucked inwardly...Hmmn...Pity I couldn't have met them in England back then, might have been interesting to oppose my own skills in attraction against Drusilla's hypnotic powers...

Though of course, Great-grandfather Vlad would have given me Hell...Literally, via staking...If I'd stayed and screwed up his redemption schemes...)

And indeed, even as he sought a way through considered thought to bring his poor deranged daughter to her senses...Angelus had to concede that the stratagem was succeeding...For the moment...

The Council of Watchers and its Slayer seemed to have no clue that he and his own were under their very noses...Literally for a number of Watchers who attended the Savoy on a regular basis...

He applauded his daughter's boldness...So worthy of him...

And yet...There remained considerable danger in their staying...Despite Drusilla's insistence to the contrary...

(Not so considerable he decided to risk fleeing on his lonesome, Vladimir smiled within, a solemn look of reasonable interest pasted on his face...)

As dutiful paterfamilias, Angelus now realized it might be well to take matters into his own hands...

It was a proud, if slightly discouraged, Cicely who accompanied William to the Savoy for his first nights attendance at dress rehearsal...

After a week of somewhat frantic work on the enormous pile of material Mr. Gilbert had passed on to him...

Between that and their equally frantic nightly hunts in London...It hadn't been the most relaxed of honeymoons...Though not without its compensations...

Including a bit of news she was holding onto for when they would briefly meet dear ole Cousin Henry and the others later that night...A bit of news that, wonderful as it was, could complicate the situation still further...A thought which added to Cicely's discouragement...

Still no success in locating Drusilla or the rest of the Angelus pride...Even with a certain degree of support from Chairman Rathskeller and the Council...

Well...As she'd noted to Will before they'd left for the London train...It might do well to forego the hunt, at least in London and specifically for the pride for one night...Give them a chance to feel secure and show themselves...Or at least their murderous hands...And pause to review matters with Henry and the others...Especially given the new situation...

And she was dying to see Will in his element...Wowing Messieurs Gilbert and Sullivan with his brilliant literary efforts on their behalf...Well...She beamed at her somewhat nervous husband, giving a gentle squeeze of the hand as they rode along on the London train...

Mr. Gilbert had seemed kind enough in his handwritten praise of Will's early efforts at revisions...And Sir Arthur was a friend of her father's...

It wasn't likely they'd be too hard on him in front of her...

Play

"The sun whose rays are all ablaze...

With ever-living glory...

Does not deny...His majesty-

He scorns to tell a stor...y!...

He don't exclaim, I blush for shame...So kindly be indul...gent...

But fierce and bold, in fiery gold...

He glories all effulgent..."

Angelus watched as Drusilla stood listening to the music floating down to their new lair, deep in the storage rooms of the Savoy...

"Isn't beautiful, Angelus?..." she smiled at him...

Darla beside her smiling vaguely as well...Beautiful, Dru...she murmured in agreement...

The world was such a happy place these days for Darla...

And therefore rather more such for her dear mate...Who bore appropriate gratitude towards his little girl...Anxious as he was to gradually persuade her to see reason and flee their dangerously exposed position...

He smiled kindly back, indulgent father that he was...Yes, indeed...Lovely...

And indeed, it was...And rather nice to be among the first in London and the world to hear Gilbert and Sullivan's latest masterpiece...Still in development...

"He is coming..." Drusilla smiled warmly at the thought...None of the former hysteria...Simply a calm, warm joy...

Growing up is my darling girl, Angelus thought...Always knew she'd outgrow the insanity one day...Just wish she'd complete the process and grow sane enough to agree to us getting out of here...

"He will be here tonight..." she beamed at Angelus...

"Wonderful, Dru..." Darla gently smiled, vaguely patting her...

Tonight?...Angelus eyed her...Does this mean we can get the hell out of here...Tonight?...he thought hopefully...

"But...Tonight is not the time...Yet..." Dru read his thoughts...Not literally, out of politeness...Though she was aware of dear father's anxiety...

"The Slayer is with him...Keeping close by him...My time is not quite yet..."

"The...Slayer...?" Angelus looked at her...Darla smiled...

"But it will be...Soon..." Dru smiled gently...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XXIV...

The Council of Watchers' Antiquarian Hall, London, 1880...Evening...

The somewhat-less-than-famed, but undoubtedly fearless Vampire Hunter Wilhemina "Willow" Rosenberg, granddaughter to the famed Abraham Van Helsing...Eyed Chairman of the Council, Arthur Rathskeller...

To date her efforts to track, locate, and destroy the Angelus pride, currently habitating somewhere in the great City of London...With the full assistance of the Council...A failure...

Mitigated only by the knowledge that the Slayer herself, Mrs. Cicely Anne Walthrop nee Addams had done no better...Despite that lady's powerful reason for achieving success...As quickly as possible...

"What can we do...Arthur?..." she sighed...Shaking her head as she sat, thumbing through the latest intelligence provided by the Council's large force of Observers and Watchers...Their close relationship over the past weeks having rapidly worn away the encrusted social proprieties...

"We've swept the entire city...Maintained tight surveillance...Even tried having volunteers make themselves available in the kinds of isolated locales this pride is known to favor...They haven't raised their heads in two weeks..."

I've run out of ideas...she looked despondently out the large window to the street below...Nope, no vamps skulking around outside...

Gramps will be so disappointed in me...she thought...

"We mustn't lose heart, my dear girl..." the Chairman nodded firmly...

And the Slayer herself has not succeeded in locating the pride...he pointed out...

The Slayer...Willow sighed again...Another failure...The fool girl just will not listen to reason...Determined to abandon her Duty all for the silly love of some little...

Well...I suppose...To be fair...If it were my true love...she shook her head...

"Of course, Willow..." Rathskeller paused... "You realize there is one alternative left to us..."

Yes...she nodded, a bit sadly...

"But even if we could convince her that his safety lies in our destroying Drusilla and the others...Whatever risk must be taken..." she paused...

"No...Mrs. Walthrop would not listen...And would never allow us to risk her husband's life..."

"And yet...It could be done...And may soon have to be done...Without her consent..." he eyed Willow firmly...

"Arthur...? You could do such a thing?..."

He sighed..."If it meant the chance to save thousands now and in the future from this savage pride, my dear..."

Yes...However...He paced the room...And paused...Not looking at her...

"I have tried to restrain my hand to date...To prevent losing all contact with our Slayer...And I will try to wait as long as I feel I can..."

"But the time is approaching...When I will have to weigh the good of Humanity against the happiness...And perhaps, the lives, of two people...However fond of poor Cicely I am..."

"Two?..." Willow stared...

"Yes...You know as well as I, my dear...If Walthrop dies...And the Council is shown to have had any hand in exposing him to danger...The Slayer will be lost to us...As she already very nearly is..."

"And, as I have told you...Humanity must have a Slayer...Whoever she may be..."

Willow was pensive a moment...

"They're coming to London tonight...?"

"Yes..." Rathskeller nodded... "And Cicely has agreed to meet with us to exchange information after her husband finishes his evening's work..."

Work?...Willow looked up...He smiled gently...

"It appears we will be attending the theater tonight...A rare chance to observe the famous company of Gilbert and Sullivan at dress rehearsal...That is, if you would be so kind as to accompany me, Miss Rosenberg..." he bowed slightly...She beamed, nodding...Why, sir...A slightly coy smile... "Mr. Walthrop is currently engaged by Mr. W.S. Gilbert in writing work at the Savoy Theater..."

"The Gilbert?..." Willow blinked...

He nodded, grinning now...

"It seems Mr. Walthrop continues to demonstrate a remarkable ability to make his way in the world...In fact...Cicely seemed actually rather anxious that we come to the rehearsal...I believe our Slayer wants to display her boy's talents..."

She smiled...but...A heavy sadness crept in...Poor girl, poor loving girl...

"I hope..." The Chairman eyed her, the sadness in his eyes as well... "I pray...His...And her... Career...Need not be cut short..."

The same evening...

In the London offices of the Addams conglomerate, Simon Farris faced Sir Richard, Cicely's father...Who'd summoned him for a discussion of what information the historian-antiquarian friend of his headstrong little fool of a daughter had gleaned on Cicely and William's activities...

"So..." Sir Richard coldly eyed his guest...

"They've set up housekeeping near Cambridge...Not anything I didn't already know..."

"And young Walthrop is currently working for WS Gilbert, here in London part of the week..." Simon smiled...

Gilbert?...Sir Richard frowned...

Not exactly his favorite writer-lyricist...Particularly after seeing a burlesque lampoon of his own self portrayed in one of Gilbert's lesser-known plays...

One which his daughter had rather enjoyed, to his increasing annoyance...

And having been denied the chance to triumph over the fellow in court...Where his friends in public life had been unable to guarantee a favorable outcome over London's most popular playwright, forcing him to quietly withdraw the suit...He remained rather inclined to a negative view of both the man and the idle trash he and his partner doled out to the fools who cheered their works...Every night...

"In fact..." Farris eyed his "client"...Or as he preferred, his tool...

"Cicely and Walthrop are coming to London tonight...Even as we speak...To observe the company's dress rehearsal at the Savoy..."

"The Savoy...? Tonight?..." Sir Richard leaned back in his large chair... "I see..."

"You've done well, Farris..." He rose...Rather in dismissal, Farris quietly noted...Somewhat contemptuous dismissal...Which Simon also noted...For future reference...

"I will remember it when the proper time comes..." Sir Richard nodded at him as Farris likewise rose to go...

"Squears...!" Addams called, as he opened the door to let Simon out...Farris saw a sallow-faced, lanky, dull-looking fool of a youth approach...

Dim, but no doubt capable enough for this sort of thing...

"Sir Richard..." Simon paused at the open door as young Squears squeezed past him into the room...

Addams turning to eye him...

"Please remember...My only interest here is Miss Cicely's welfare...I have no desire to profit from this bit of intelligence..."

"Indeed..." Sir Richard smiled coldly...Squears now slouching in the middle of the room... "You're not quite the fool I took you for, are you Mr. Farris?..." he looked him in the eye...

"Well...A man who is not quite a fool is always a useful commodity in this world of fools...Lets see how events turn out tonight..." he paused... "And perhaps...I may have other uses for you later...Involving more than a minor "profit"..." he sneered, turning back to Squears...

A very...Interesting man...Farris noted to himself as he left...

No wonder now where Cicely got that hard edge that has made her so capable a Slayer...

"Squears..." Sir Richard glared at the young fool in his office... "I have a little bit of rather "special" work for you and Smike...And possibly Davies as well...To be carried out tonight..."

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XXV...

[Note...Again, I request indulgence from true fans of Gilbert and Sullivan...In the Cicelyverse, events moved a bit faster for our beloved duo and the Mikado as well as the Savoy are a few years ahead of schedule...]

March 1880, evening... Basement of the Savoy Theater, London...

"Dru...?" Angelus eyed his wayward "daughter"...Who'd just appeared at a stairway side door in the rear of the main storage area of the theater...

"Well?..." he glared... "Where the devil have you been...?" She gave a guilty look...

"I've been combing the whole area down here and what I could of the main stage...Wait..." he frowned...

"You've been upstairs, in the dressing rooms and offices, among the humans again!..You silly fool...!" he raged... "Do you want to bring the Slayer down upon us again?..."

"And if you say...Once more...That you were "seeking your Prince..."!...By the demon gods who made me...!...I'll..."

"No one was there, Father...They're all busy with their new play rehearsal...I was very careful...I just wanted to see where..." she paused...He caught sight of something in her hand...A folio of some sort containing papers...

"What may I ask is that?...Hand it over, lass..." he held out a hand...Dru dutifully handing it over...

That is my Prince's manuscript, Angelus...Signed by Him...Dru proudly if somewhat anxiously noted...Watching as he pulled out a sheet and began reading...

Mr. Gilbert had it in his office...He thinks very highly of my Prince...she beamed a moment, then resuming her nervous expression, looked at the folio as Angelus pulled more pages out...

Please be careful with it, Angelus...I shouldn't have taken it...she sheepishly pleaded...He will be so unhappy if I don't return it safely...

Hmmn...Angelus looked at the title... "... 'The Vampire as Metaphor'..?"

"Yes..." Dru eagerly nodded... "See...He writes of our kind...He seeks to join me..."

Join us...she thought...Us, sister...

Your promise...a voice faintly returned within...I will be allowed my time with Him...To know He comes to us freely...That no one is wrongfully harmed...

We are One, sister...You know I do not lie...she replied...Stand by me and we will have Him...All ours...Forever, together...

Dru?...Angelus stared at his dazed-looking offspring...

Some of the fun goes out of tormenting her when she doesn't even know what's going on...

"Please, Angelus...There's nothing there to amuse you..." she suddenly spoke, startling him...And eyed him...Motioning for the manuscript's return...

"Just a moment, dear girl..." Hmmn...he thumbed through...A dutiful "father" must find some way to glean information on the object of his little one's affections after all...

Can't have some unworthy little man courting...Or being courted by...My own little girl...he noted to her, a grin breaking through...Hmmn...

" 'Love dead'..."?... 'Hate living'...?"... "... 'the foul Undead creature growled...'?" Angelus stared at the manuscript...What?...

"I mean...I wouldn't say I'm particularly fond of the living by any stretch of the imagination...Outside the strictly nutritional context...But I definitely would not say I "Love..." the dead...As a general rule..."

"This is your little 'Prince's' concept of our kind...?"

Utter rubbish...he shook his head...And really, rather an insult to the sophisticated, cultivated nature of our people...

Most of us...he eyed Drusilla...Whose face was beginning to harden with annoyance...And anger...

Please...Angelus...she stared at him coldly now...No pleading in her as yet, still polite request...

Hmmn...He looked over where Darla happily beamed on them, blankly content in her little Dru-given Heaven...

Well, as an indulgent pater, naturally the noble vampire prince was happy to grant his precious offspring's request...

(Would have been humiliating to have had to return it on his knees, abjectly craving her forgiveness...Vladimir sneered to himself as Angelus continued his saga, Stoker maintaining rapt attention...Willie affecting rapt attention at least...

Though I suspect the true facts of the incident were probably just that...)

...Still...Angelus reflected, as Dru politely expressed thanks and requested just a moment's chance to return the item before it might be missed...While the cast, hands, and management were fully engaged on stage...

A request he kindly granted...Watching her hurry upstairs...

Their situation, perched on the edge of disaster between immediate death in the city streets at the hands of their vigilant pursuers, the Slayer and her Council, and the inevitable end here under the Slayer's very nose...was beyond perilous...

Sometimes even the most indulgent of fathers must consider exercising a bit of necessary discipline...And acting in his "child"'s best interests even when they do not coincide with their desires...

He looked at the title sheet of the manuscript which he'd carefully folded and retained while his dear girl was distracted...Bearing the signature of its author, a Mr. William Soames Walthrop...

And a slight trace of its author's scent...

Unless that were Gilbert's...No, he'd caught whiffs of both Gilbert and his esteemed partner...

Not that the noble Angelus would ever conceive of such a cruelty as to deprive London and the world of two who brought so much joy to so many...Including his own tormented kind...

Some things are after all, beyond the pale...

"Sos, Smike..." Squears rubbed his running nose on his sleeve as he and his fellow lout waited in a doorway a few blocks from the Savoy...Warren Smith...er Smithe, "special agent" and household servant of Sir Richard Addams, glaring at him as his tall, slick-black-haired, slack-jawed partner dressed like himself in the appropriate non-descript clothes of an ordinary laborer grinned back...

"We's to give what for the little poet's what's gone and got our Cicely girl into some trouble, eh...?"

"Shut your hole, ya stupid..." Warren hissed, pulling him back into the dark of the stoop...

"And I hate that damned bloody name, so stop using it..."

"I'll take it from Addams and his girl, but not from the likes of you, you..."

"Sod off, Smike..." Squears punched him... "Or I'll gut you before I do the little runt..."

"No gutting, you damned moron!..." Warren fumed... "You know there's to be none of that...Just one over the head, stuff him in the sack and off he goes..."

"The Thames, again...?" Squears asked, genuinely curious...Sir Richard having such an admirably bold way of dealing with the troublesome...

No silly foolery about our Dick, that's the man for you...

"God knows...And neither of us should care to...It's Sir Richard's business...Just see there's no blood and he's still breathing when he's delivered..."

"Ah...Our Dick wants a few in private with his new boy, eh?..." Squears grinned...Like with that Chinaman?...The one whose boys gave him and his friends a bit of trouble over the trade that year...?

Sounds to me like it'll end in the Thames again...he noted...Chuckling...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XXVI...

March, 1880, later evening...

The main stage of the Savoy Theater...London...

Play (Artists' Life, Strauss)

"Places, people...Lets try and not take all night about this...Mr. Grossmith..." an annoyed Gilbert fumed at his Lord High Executioner... "Left center stage for our Ko-ko, please..." Grossmith, in full costume as Lord High Executioner, Ko-ko raced for his mark... "Yes, exactly so...And Miss Bond, Miss Grey, Miss Braham..." he waved the three ladies in kimonos to their place...

"Very well...Mr. Grossmith?..."

Oh, right...Ummn...Grossmith paused...

"Ye...es...Mr. Grossmith...?"

"A question, Mr. Gilbert...?...As to the opening line for this scene...?"

A hard glare...

"The opening line for this scene, Mr. Grossmith...Is as it should be...Please be so good as to recite it...Unless you have some difficulty in recalling words of no more than two syllables..."

"Yes, but...I should like to suggest..." Grossmith began...

"I should not like to receive, Mr. Grossmith...Pray be so good as to give the line and let us get on with tonight's business..."

Cicely from her seat with the evercharming, dark and distinguished D'Oyly Carte in the rear blinked a bit...Hmmn...Rather orders them about...she quietly noted to the beaming...Thank God the damned thing at last is under way and the boys are speaking to each other again...Carte...

"Actually WS is holding back considerably...Probably for our sakes, Mrs. Walthrop..."

She caught sight of Will, rushing a bit to Gilbert and divided her attention from the actors beginning their scene...Last minute revision of an upcoming scene...Gilbert raising a hand to hold him back...One moment, sir...

Grossmith at last delivered his line and the scene was underway...Gilbert reached for Will's proofs...

"Yes...Yes...No...Absolutely not...Yes, excellent...Ha, ha..." he chuckled...Racing over the pages...

"Hmmn..." he frowned at something as Will stood by, slightly perspiring...

Cicely watching with somewhat bated breath...

"This your idea?..." Gilbert gave William a hard stare...Holding out a page with finger on a line...

"Well, sir..."

"Passable...Yes...I think it'll do..."

Walthrop glanced surreptitiously out to his bride, who beamed back...

"Hmmn...Was this nonsense mine or yours?..." Gilbert paused over another line...

Rubbish in any case, toss it out...he handed the page...

"A fair copy, as quick as you can, boy..." he waved Will off...William hurrying back towards the stairs to the upper offices where a cubbyhole had been cleared...Partially...For him...

"Well..." Carte smiled benignly... "Your husband seems to be getting on quite famously with WS..."

Ah...He turned to greet their new visitor...

Wondered when Arthur would show, he never can resist a pretty face...

"Arthur...Welcome..." he waved to Sir Arthur Sullivan as the composer joined them...Beaming jovially...Wiping a slight bead of sweat from his brow...Been at our own work rather hard, he noted...

"Mrs. Cicely Walthrop, Addams of late..." Carte introduced a smiling, if slightly dazed Cicely...

"Mrs. Walthrop...Delighted to see you again..." Sullivan took her proffered hand and gave a slight kiss... He took a seat next to her...

"And how does your young man get on?...Gilbert terrorizing him and the rest already?..."

She gave a slightly wan nod...Bit overwhelming, she noted...

"All's going quite well, Arthur..." Carte smiled...

"Smooth as oil, D'Oyly...?" Sullivan grinned over...And turned back to the enchanting Mrs. Walthrop...Whose acquaintance he'd made at various gatherings over the past several years attended in her role as acclaimed young Queen of Society... "You mustn't let it get you concerned, my dear...Gilbert is always like this...During writing and composition, at rehearsal, on opening night...Throughout the entire season...My advice is to consider him simply as a force of nature to be yielded to or resisted as the situation..." A crash as a frustrated Gilbert banged a chair on stage, startling the chorus he was attempting to direct and those watching... "Calls for..."

"And to remember he's simply a large bear, stung by a bee..."Arthur concluded...Cicely grinning...

Yes...Sullivan sighed within, eyeing her...Pity to lose such an ornament to the social scene...Still, always charming to see a young woman contentedly in love...

Not to mention...Based on years of experience...Hmmn...

"Walthrop!...Where the devil are you?..." Gilbert hollered at the ceiling... "We need those proofs, lad...Now!..."

He just left a minute ago...Cicely stared...Hissing the same aloud to Sullivan...

"Mrs. Walthrop..." Gilbert now whirled back...Eyeing her directly...

"We are engaged in both craft and business here...Please be so good as to maintain silence...No one is ever asked by me to do more than what I ask of myself..."

She stared, somewhat mortified, and vaguely wondering where good ole "Dickens" had got to...Ah...She felt the comforting warmth of a good wood stake with the fingertips of her right hand...But smiled a bit as William came rushing in, job completed at record speed...Even Gilbert a bit pleasantly surprised...

"Ears like an owl's..." Sullivan whispered...Catching a rather strained look in Cicely's face...

"And the patience of Job..." Gilbert called back...Read the proofs as he waved the cast and chorus about...William standing by...

Well...Lucky young fellow...Sullivan smiled over at young William...Standing for the moment in Gilbert's benevolent favor...

"Perhaps...Mrs. Walthrop...You'd care to take a glass of ice water?...D'Oyly...?..." Sullivan eyed him...Glancing swiftly back at her...

"Yes, indeed..." Carte nodded...Catching the hint... "I'd say WS would appreciate the break as much as we..." Well...That might be...Cicely gratefully nodded...Carte waving down to the stage as they rose...

"Ah, peace at last..." Gilbert smiled to Walthrop as the party left...Five minutes, everyone...he called...The cast wearily and gratefully catching breath...

"Nothing worse than having the Missus watching your abject humiliation and belittlement, eh Walthrop?...I make it a strict policy to never have my wife attend rehearsals, where I always expect to be throughly humiliated several times within the course of the evening...Except of course when she utterly disregards my strict junctures and comes regardless..." he waved over to his Lucy who waved back...Hello, Willie...

Well...

"By the way, boy...I see additional congratulations are in order...When is the happy event due?..."

Sir...? Will blinked...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XXVII...

March, 1880...Evening...

London, The Savoy Theater, dress rehearsal night for the upcoming "Mikado"...

In the lobby, a returning Cicely, Sir Arthur Sullivan, and D'Oyly Carte were greeted by the just arrived Willow Rosenberg and Arthur Rathskeller, Chairman of the Watchers' Council...Along with Cicely's Watcher mentor, Simon Farris, who'd been invited to attend the test launch of the latest masterwork of London's dynamic duo both by Cicely and his friend the Chairman...

Cicely began her introductions...Sullivan and Carte beaming genially...While Rathskeller for his part greeted his old friend Sullivan by name...Sullivan turning to greet the lovely Ms. Rosenberg, somewhat removed from her usual "all-business" manner this evening, as both Cicely and the Chairman noted...Carte offering Farris a hearty welcome...Likewise an old acquaintance...

Hmmn...Cicely eyed Sullivan and Carte...Friends of Council members?...I wonder...

Still even Simon and the Chairman must relax sometime...

A muffled crash, faint shouts, penetrated the lobby through what should have been "practically", Carte noted...Soundproof doors...Sullivan sighing...WS seems to be having his usual time of it within, Carte smiled at Cicely...

"But somehow we manage to survive whatever catastrophe poor Gilbert imagines we face...And those he manages to create..."

Old Ramsgate, tall, grey-haired,distinguished-looking, long-time doorman for the various incarnations of the Company, now emerged from the main theater area...Holding the door for several sheepish-looking invited guests...He looked over at them at Carte...Yes, he's at it again, sir...his look saying...

"WS putting a bit of the stick about, Ramsgate?..." Carte looked back...Ramsgate nodding slightly...

"Mr. Gilbert is in his usual state at such moments, sir..."

Deuced maniac...Thought he was going to throw a fit...Or a chair...At us...One guest hissed to his companion as they hastened through the door...

"Well...Ladies and gentlemen...I trust you will all understand Mr. Gilbert is a perfectionist and an artist...A dangerous combination in one who seeks to entertain the public..." Carte cheerily addressed the group now milling in the hall...

"And an artist, even of the pen, must be allowed some license...I'm sure we'll be quite welcome to re-enter in a few minutes when he's got whatever problem is buzzing round his brain settled...So that I trust you will appreciate this chance you've had to see the creative process at work, warts and all..."

"For now, if you'd be so kind as to follow Mr. Ramsgate here..." he indicated the doorman... "He will lead you to a reception room where we have a few refreshments waiting..."

Insane bloody jackass...Hollering at us all like that...Another guest shook his head to his companions...And smashing those chairs on the stage...Damned unreasonable, inconsiderate...Grumbling quietly as the group followed Ramsgate...Cicely and her friends remaining behind with Sullivan and Carte...

"Don't worry for your lad, my dear Cecily..." Sullivan smiled at her as she looked anxiously at the main doors...

No...She thought, nodding a smile at Sir Arthur...I can't worry just for him, now...Not now...

"Well, Cicely..." Simon turned to her... "How is your husband finding the literary theatrical life?..."

Another crash...But not, this time, from behind the theater doors...

A side door, leading to stairs to the upper office floors opened...To reveal a startled, disoriented Drusilla, obviously racing back from her errand upstairs...

"Oh...Wrong floor..." she put a hand to her mouth... "Pray excuse me..." she smiled vaguely, nodding to the group...Cicely blinking at her...

Hmmn...Have I seen her before?...Willow pondered...

"Drusilla..." Rathskeller, beside her gasped...Farris behind him, staring...The little fool...

She hurried back into the short hallway leading to the stairs to the sub-basement...

With an incoherent cry, Cicely raced through the door after...

"Mrs. Walthrop?..." Sullivan called...As Rathskeller, Willow, and Farris hurried after her...

"Cicely!..." Farris calling down as he reached the stairs...

Quite a bit of alright this...Andrew Fowler happily noted to Henry Foxcroft and Jonathan Levinson, his friends and colleagues in their new trade as vampire-hunting assistants to their dear Cicely the Vampire Slayer, as their carriage neared the Savoy...A chance to see the dry run of the new Gilbert and Sullivan...

"This new line of ours has its benefits, eh?..." he beamed...

"Absolutely, old fellow..." Henry nodded at him..."And to see how friend Walthrop is faring at the hands of Messieurs G. and S..." he grinned...

"Ah, well...Walthrop will get on, I'm sure..." Andrew smiled... "Anyone who can do so well with our Cicely...Eh, Levinson...?" Indeed...Jonathan noted...

Still...Fowler's spirits dampened a hair...

"Pity we've nothing new to tell Cicely and Walthrop tonight..." he sighed...Not a hair of these fanged types, at least the ones she's seeking...Nor any looneys either...Fowler having still not quite gotten the idea that they were not also seeking the lunatic out of his head...

Though, as Jonathan noted to himself...Considering the behavior of the vampires they had encountered in their hunts with Cicely...Seeking lunatics might not be so bad a way to describe their work at that...

The electric lights of the Savoy...Quite a newfangled item, Andrew noted... Greeted them as their carriage pulled to a stop...They climbed out and stood watching the lights...

"You don't think the damned things are dangerous, do you Foxcroft?..." he looked up at the bright windows... "One chap I know said they can explode if you run them more than ten minutes...Noxious fumes inside em..."

"Mr. Carte smashed one on stage in front of his audience to prove them safe the first night..." Levinson looked up as well...

"I doubt they'd be installed unless they'd been well proven..." Henry smiled... "And anything's safer than the old candle lights on stage...Remember that time with your brother, Andrew?...When he knocked over the stage candles...?"

"Run, Juliet...!..." Fowler grinned... "Quite a show that was...Though thank God, there was water at hand..."

"Poor Tucker'd been a bit too long at the pub before the performance that night...Mooning after that poor actress doing the Juliet..."

"Quite a job for Father to get ole Tuck out of that little scrape..." he chuckled... "But, so long as no one was hurt..."

Still, he sighed again to Henry as Jonathan entered the theater..."Pity no better news for our poor girl..."

"We'll find them, Andrew..." Henry eyed him... "And help her destroy them..."

Hmmn...Fowler looked at his friend a bit sheepishly...Rather prefer to think we're helping the poor looney vampires...he noted...They say the poor fellows were people once...

"And we are helping them, my friend..." Jonathan kindly patted him...

On reaching the basement level, Drusilla changed course and throwing the door open, raced into the basement area where various dressers, costumers, stage painters, and their assistants were hard at work...

"Excuse me, please..." she nodded pleasantly to several in her way, dodging them deftly as she raced across the floor...

"Important message..." she pointed vaguely ahead... "Truly sorry...Please let me through..." She gently pushed a few untended racks of costumes out of her way...Politely waiting for a few in use to be moved...And pressed on for the stairs on the opposite side, the busy staff immediately filling back over her path...

Cicely emerged from the stairs, having caught sight of her quarry opening the basement door from above...

"Pardon me, please!..." she shoved across the floor, somewhat more abrupt in her manner...

"Watch it, girl!...What are you doing here?..." one irritated costumer cried...Others desperately grabbing at their materials...

"The dark-haired girl who just came in here!...Where did she go?..." she shouted to an annoyed dresser...Really had enough of this nonsense... "You tell Mr. Gilbert to let us get on with our work here..." he grumbled to her...

"Where...Did...She go...?" Cicely grabbed and shook him...Her eyes frantically darting round...Seeing the open door to the other stairs...She released the dresser just as several hefty lady costumers and a couple of stage hands came over to his rescue...She wasted no time throwing a couple who tried to grab her, back...Hey!...

She broke through and reached the stair door, pausing to look round...Any trace?...She concentrated...

A wave of nausea overcame her and she staggered...But hurried downstairs to the sub-basement as a couple of angry employees of the Company moved through the busy crowd towards her...

Dru meanwhile continued her progress back up to the office levels...Just as her "Prince" the new-minted husband and assistant to Mr. Gilbert, Mr. William Soames Walthrop reached those levels on yet another hasty Gilbert errand...

Now followed at a discreet distance by the noble vampiral prince Angelus...Who had, at no little risk to his courageous self, come from his safe hideaway below to deal with the nonsensical minor romantic tribulations of his dear "daughter"...Once and for all...

As a good "father" should...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get a handle on the situation, possibly my "Romance Palace" as well... .

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XXVIII...

March, 1880...The night of the "Mikado" dress rehearsal (again, indulgence...this is an AU and G&S are working several years ahead of schedule)...

London...The offices' level of the Savoy Theatre...

There...At last...Vision or dream no longer...Stood the object of her desire, the lure of whom had even overcome her vampire essence's instinctive repugnance for risking its Immortal existence...

The rather slight if handsome, William Soames Walthrop...Looking rather anxious as he entered the hallway of the office floors...Intent upon his errand for the demanding Mr. Gilbert...He caught a brief glimpse of a somewhat disheveled young lady at the opposite end of the hallway...A young lady who somehow seemed...Familiar...

And yet...She thought...It is not my time...Not yet...The vision of her triumph was cloudy but she knew tonight was not quite its moment...

Still...No reason not to get acquainted...Especially with her trapped soul within as anxious to meet him as she...Urging, even...For once...Rather insistent...

"Sir!..." Drusilla called...Staring intently... "A moment, please!..."

Walthrop looked down the hall at the rather wild-looking young woman...Dark-haired, terribly wan and pale...But with an air of something...Unnaturally strong...And eerily malevolent about her...Particularly in her cold stare...

His doom, the realization suddenly struck him...

And yet, buried in that same stare...A pleading, a desperation...

Drusilla, he knew...She stood, apparently now with her goal at last in sight, as frozen by shock as he...

By shock...And perhaps...

"You...Are?..." he asked her...

"We...Are Drusilla..." she nodded slowly at him...A gentleness in her features now that instinctively moved him in spite of the dread he felt...

"You are the One we were told of...The One who would come to us..." she paused...

"I'm not..." he insisted, gently... "My name...Is William...And I belong to..."

"The Slayer..." she shook her head...A terribly worn and haggard look came over her...

"No one...No one..." she murmured, a despairing look..."Never..."

"Miss?..."

"What have I done that God has done this to me?..." she looked at him... "Tell me...?"

"I...Don't know..." William eyed her... "Miss...If I could help you...Believe me..."

No...she shook herself, a vicious look now coming into her face... "No!...Bad Sister to plead and whine!...Foolish, bad soul..." He backed away, she now taking demon face...

"You belong with us, William..." she glared... "Promised to us...And with us you will..." she blinked at him...Her face reverting...

"Sir!..." she gasped... "Go!...Run!...Now!..."

"Forgive me, sir...Forgive me..." she stared at Walthrop...He staggered back...Looking wildly for the stairway door...

"No!...NO!..." the demon face resumed and she charged at him...And was on him in a moment...

Clairvoyance and Prophecy being all very well but, as both her human uncles and her vampiral "father" would have agreed...Sometimes one must seize the day...

Even as that devoted vampiral "father", the noble Angelus, emerged from the stairway behind William...

After dodging a number of annoyed costumers and having failed to find Cicely on the basement floor...Farris, Chairman Rathskeller, and Miss Rosenberg, followed a bit more sedately by Sullivan and Carte had reached the sub-basement where Cicely had begun a frantic search for her nemesis...

No doubt about it...Shoving aside a number of huge crates placed strategically to block the lair space from view...The pride had found a home here...Here...

Oh, God...Practically under their noses the whole time...Drusilla laughing at all my efforts...She came to a sudden, horrified halt...Not here...And...William?...

"Mrs. Walthrop!..." "Cicely!..." Rathskeller and Farris called to her...She looked at them wildly from the lair entrance and ran for the nearest stairway entrance...

"William!...Not now, not now God..." she raced up the stairs...The two men's cries following her...

"Wait for us, Mrs. Walthrop!..." the Chairman crying...In vain...

On the sub-basement floor, Willow glanced round carefully as she caught up to her escorts even as they hurried to the stairway and up in pursuit of the Slayer...Remarkable creature...she shook her head briefly at the now exposed lair as she turned to follow them...Even imbued with a kind of insane bravery...To have taken such a chance...And all for that diminutive, if admittedly rather handsome, poet...

Another fool for love, just like her Slayer opponent...And Grandfather's quarry, old Vlad...The thought crossing her mind as she in turn entered the stairwell and began racing up...

Just outside the theater, coming in haste via an alleyway from the carriage where his companions Henry Foxcroft and Andrew Fowler were just embarking, Jonathan Levinson stared in some surprise...At the pleasant young blonde lady he and Andrew had assisted with a carriage ride a few evenings ago...Who gave a wan smile in greeting, vaguely remembering..."Good evening, sir..."

"Miss...?"

"So very nice to see you again, sir...Are you attending the theater here?..." she happily asked...A rather misplaced polite air, considering the huddled mass at her feet...A whimpering young boy who seemed rather unusually terrified...

Wait a bit...He stared at her dress, not covered now by the coat she'd worn in their carriage the other night...It couldn't be...

The fiend whom he'd seen attacking Henry in that basement the night of the Walthrops' wedding?...

Sadly, Darla had not had much chance...Or, thanks to Dru's influence, much desire...To acquire a new outfit since her and Cicely's devoted assistants' last encounter...

Even if her sweet face did not bear much resemblance to the foul monster, Jonathan had seen that night...

"Levinson!...Get back!..." Henry cried as he caught sight of Darla as he and Andrew entered the alleyway...

Oh...Dear...Darla stared down at Henry...Dru will not be pleased to hear of this...So unfortunate to have let anyone learn of our presence...

But my dearest "grand-daughter" is of such a kind heart...So forgiving...And, perhaps...I could yet lead them away...Her old natural "grandmotherly" devotion supplemented now by Dru's telepathic thrall...

"My apologies, sir...I must go..." she nodded to Jonathan pleasantly and fled, leaving the boy in a heap behind...

"Darla!..." Henry called to Jonathan as he and Andrew raced after her... "Hurry, Jonathan!..."

Sometimes...Angelus sighed...The lot of a father is not an easy one...He impatiently eyed the hesitant Dru...As she stood over the fallen form of her Prince...His collar now stained with his own blood, though by no means fatally...

"Will you get on with it, lass?...Or shall I finish him?...We must hurry, girl...The Slayer will be after us..."

William moaned and groggily reared his head from the floor at her...

"Sir..." Dru stared at him... "I can see the fires in your mind...I can give you..."

"Sod...off, girl..." Will gasped out, eyeing her... "Go on...Kill me if you wish...I know what you're offering...I'll have none of it..."

She blinked at him...Angelus rolling his eyes...

"Listen to me...You have great things in you...I can show you..."

"I'll have...None of...It..."

Jesus, Mary, and the other fellow...Angelus fumed inwardly at her, though outwardly maintaining his paternal calm (Paralyzed with fear of her, Vladimir thought, grinning a bit at Willie)...It doesn't have to be a voluntary choice, you silly little...

"Dru...?" he called to her...She looked over to him, waving a hand...Just a moment...

"I see, William...You still can't see me for that other..." she was pensive, staring at him...The thud of pounding feet on the opposite stairs came to them...Angelus looking over...

"Hurry, lass...There's no time..."

"Leave Cicely be...Kill me if you like...Leave her..." Will struggled to rise...

"I've no interest in your Slayer...Less she tries to come between us again...Now, listen, little one..."

"Dr...u"...Angelus called...Moving for the stairway door... "Take him or kill him...But go...Now!..."

"Father is right..." she sighed... "And it is too soon...I must show you first what I have to offer you..." she grabbed William as he struggled feebly and dragged him to the stairs...

As a frantic Cicely threw open the opposite door... "STOP!..." she screamed, her "Dickens" at the ready...

"Well..." Angelus glared...

"This is what you get for playing with your food, Drusilla..."

Drusilla...

PG-13

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

Part XXIX...

March, 1880...Night of the "Mikado" dress rehearsal...

London, The office floor of the Savoy Theater...

From their end of the long floor hallway, Drusilla and her sire, the noble Angelus confronted Cicely Anne Walthrop, nee Addams, Greatest Slayer of All Time (to date)...While, clutched in Dru's gentle but unyielding grip...William Soames Walthrop, scholar, poet (of sorts), assistant writer to the formidable WS Gilbert, and husband of the said Ms. Walthrop...Unconscious now from Drusilla's blood-letting...

(Hmmn...Back in the inn at the Borgo Pass, Vladimir Dracula, last born of the famed Dracule eyed his writer Bram Stoker...As their companion for the evening, "Mr." Angelus... "Descendant" of the said noble Angelus...Continued his tale...

'Confronted' the Slayer, eh?...the youthful-looking count grinned to himself...Somehow I picture it more as...Cuddled in fear at Drusilla's feet, whimpering for her to save her "father" from their dreaded foe...)

"STOP!..." Cicely screamed again, readying for a charge... "Let him go, Drusilla!...Let him go and I will let you leave here alive...!"

Sounds good to me, the sensible Angelus noted to himself, eyeing Walthrop...Little fellow hardly seems worth the effort...Probably not one square meal in him...

Dru shook her head gently even as Cicely began her run...

"I am dead, Mrs. Walthrop..." she smiled and turned for the door, dragging William behind her...Angelus wisely taking up a guardian's post at the stairway door...

"STOP!...William!..." a desperate Cicely, racing to them, slashed with her stake "Dickens" at Dru's arm as the vampiress whirled Walthrop through the door and started to slam it...

The Slayer tore the door open as Drusilla cried out in pain as the stake cut into her hand...Shoving William ahead of her down the first steps, Angelus now Unmanfully leading the way...

(Fleeing in panic before the Slayer, I get the picture...Vladimir thought...Winking briefly at Willie the innkeeper as he resumed his post listening to the story...)

A hard slam from the vampiress threw Cicely back on her heels and she fell...Dru staring down at her as she grabbed for "Dickens"...Nothing in reach...She stared up at her nemesis, trying to cover with her feet and arms while attempting to rise, but feeling her burst of strength ebb away ...Dru simply staring down...

"His...?" she asked suddenly...Cicely pausing, suddenly realizing...

"Ours..." she replied, in a gasp...Dru blinking slightly at her...A strange look in her face...Not triumphant at all...Gentle...Almost...

"Please...For your soul's sake..." Cicely breathed... "If there's anything human left in you..."

"I..." Dru trembled... "I...I'm...Sorry...Sorry..." She backed off though the door, slamming it...

"No!..." Cicely screamed...Struggling to rise...Gasping... "No!..."

Forcing herself up, she smashed at the door and half-ran, half-fell through it...A wave of violent nausea overcoming her as she went through...

"Help me!..." she screamed, falling to her knees... "Oh, God...Help me!..."

Play (Strauss' Perpetuum Mobile "Perpetual Motion")

In the streets just outside the theater entrance, Cicely's cousin Henry Foxcroft and former suitors/current faithful friends and assistants, Jonathan Levinson and Andrew Fowler were engaged in their own vampire hunt...For Darla, mate of Angelus...Now rather surprisingly calm and content as she continued her effort to lead the three potentially Dru-threatening humans away from the Savoy and her dearly beloved, courtesy Dru's thrall abilities..."grand-daughter" ...

Just a minor matter of surviving long enough for dear, dear Dru to find her "Prince", take him, and make good her escape...

"Oh!..." She raised her hands in startled dismay...Having knocked aside the rather scruffy-looking gentleman lounging in a corner of the alleyway entrance she'd just turned into...His partner seeming rather more enjoying the spectacle of his comrade falling into the muck than interested in assisting him...

"My apologies...Entirely my fault, sir!..." she called behind her to the fallen Warren "Smike" Smithe as he cursed at her...Squears, laughing harshly at his incensed partner from his corner in the alleyway wall...But quieting quickly and pulling back to give a good once-over to the three toffs who now came in Darla's wake...

"Andrew!...Jonathan!...For God's sake, hurry!..." Henry called as he raced by the cesspool where Smike stared up at him and his companions...Foxcroft?...What the hell was he...?...He tried to pull himself out of Henry's immediate view, Foxcroft obligingly keeping his attention focused on the issue of taking the fiend Darla alive...

Or whatever reasonable facsimile of life she currently enjoyed...

Hurrying to follow his Chairman and Miss Rosenberg, now moving up the stairs from the sub-basement, Simon Farris cursed the mad fool Drusilla under his breath...And her demon "godmother", Halfreck...

All his plans set to nought by the recklessness of one insane vampiress...And if Cicely should by some misfortune learn of Halfreck's role from Drusilla before destroying her...

Still, he cautioned himself...The game was hardly over by any means...Even if Dru's services were lost, there would be other ways to deal with William Soames Walthrop...

And it was very unlikely that in her current state dear Cicely would pause for a lengthy interrogation of the poor wretch before killing her...

A faint scream from somewhere above...Cicely...He tensed and raced to join the others, it taking a full minute before he realized that he was rushing without a thought to the assistance of the woman he had every intention of widowing, murdering, and condemning to an eternal living death in Lord D'Hoffryn's foul ranks...

"Drusilla...I really think..." Angelus began as they hurried down the stairs, she carrying the unconscious object of her affection, he...Noble vampiral prince and "father" of sorts that he was...Boldly leading the way...

(Boldly...Away from the Slayer as fast as his little legs could carry him...Vladimir chuckled to himself...)

"Go!..." she shouted at him, pointing ahead... "Or leave us...But go!..."

Leave?...He eyed the upcoming side stairway door as they continued on...The noble Angelus?...Abandon his dearly beloved vampiral "daughter" in her hour of need?...

Impossible of course...

("Of course..." Vladimir smilingly nodded to his guest...With a theater full of Watchers and their allies and the Slayer at his heels, he was hardly likely to "abandon" his only possible protection...Until the right moment...Of course...)

Unless...A quick, selfless dash onto the floor they were about to pass?...To divert the Slayer's attention away from his dear one, naturally...

Without a moment's hesitation, the courageous Angelus made his daring move, bursting onto the ground floor as Drusilla passed him, still dragging her prize...

Thankfully...er, sadly...No one in sight in the hall...

For a brief moment...Until from the far end, at the opposite stairway, a door opened...

Play (Strauss' Perpetuum Mobile..."Perpetual Motion"

Miss Rosenberg stared down the length at the equally startled... "Angelus!..." she cried...Taking out a cross and stake from her pockets and calling to Rathskeller, just behind her...

Just as several of those guests Carte had had entertained in the reception room after Gilbert's tirade re-emerged to see if Mr. Gilbert might be willing to allow their return to the main auditorium...

Hmmn...Willow blinked at the group who stared back at the slight young red-haired rather agitated-looking woman in formal evening gown, clutching a pointed piece of wood in one hand and a large cross in the other...Angelus turning back for the stairway door behind him...

Locked...He looked back...The group between him and his pursuers now swelling as other guests came out into the hall...

"Clear the way!...Keep back!..." Rathskeller sternly called to the crowd...As more cries came from above...

Angelus turned to the side and at the first unlocked door, hurried inside...To the main auditorium, where a fuming Gilbert was in the midst of haranguing his cast, pausing only to call out for the rather delayed young Mr. Walthrop's immediate return...

"My most profound apologies..." Angelus gave a hasty bow to the stage and hurried across the back row of empty seats...Gilbert glaring at the intruder all the way...

Outside the auditorium, Farris came out into the hallway from the stairs...

"Sir...!...Cicely!..." he called to Rathskeller...Now attempting to shove after Willow through the rather puzzled crowd...

Was this part of the show?...one gentleman asked his companions...Don't seem much like a show about the Japanners?...

An man emerged from the stairway from above, shoving past Farris..."Doctor!...Get a doctor!..."

The crowd turned to eye the new source of confusion...As Willow, finding a gap open, pressed on to the door and entered the auditorium...

"A young lady's collapsed on the stairs!...Get a doctor!..." the man cried...

"Cicely!..." Farris looked at his Chairman...

"Go to her, Simon...I'll to Miss Rosenberg...!" Arthur cried...And made for the main door...

"Terribly sorry..." Willow, inside, called up to the stage... "Did a tall, dark gentleman just...?"

Gilbert gave a violent, silently raging waving point to where Angelus had just left...

"Will I forever be plagued by these infernal..." he shouted...As Chairman Rathskeller now entered...

What was that that girl had in her hand just now?...Grossmith hissed to his neighbor on stage...Pon my soul, it looked like a stake of some sort...

"Pardon me..." Arthur called...

"That way!...Damn you!...What the damned devil is going on here tonight!..." Gilbert hollered, throwing his script down...

Sullivan and Carte now entered, looking rather puzzled...Having seen Rathskeller enter as they reached the ground floor...As several of the crowd gave them garbled accounts...

"Excuse me, Gilbert..." Sullivan called...

Without a word, Gilbert coldly stalked off stage...

"Well..." Carte smiled serenely up to the cast... "All getting on, eh...? We've had a bit of excitement outside just now...The usual thing for our first... "

"Doctor!...Will someone please get a doctor...!..." a man's voice called from the newly re-opened door...Several in the crowd outside taking up the cry...

"On the way, sir..." old Ramsgate's strong voice came over the others...

"Yes...Well as I've said...Just the usual thing..." Carte nodded...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page . , or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

[the same old request for indulgence by G and S fans...This is an AU and the boys are working faster...]

Part XXX...

March 1880, Night of the Mikado dress rehearsal...

London, The Savoy Theater...

In her third floor dressing room, the young actress adjusted her wig, and frowning at her face in her table mirror, gulped a quick swig of whiskey...Just one...More...To clear her throat, of course...And fight off the slight case of jitters...

And the damned slight cold still hanging on...Hmmn, perhaps just one more...

"The..." she hit a wrong key...Damn!... "The...the...The Sun Whose..." she coughed a bit...Hmmn, she stared at the open bottle...

Perhaps one more...Throat was still rather tight...A beautiful piece like this deserved her best after all...

"Miss Bratton...!" a hard knock...

"Yes!...Yes, ready!..." she called...

A boy stuck his head in... "Well?..." she eyed him...

"Mr. Gilbert gives his compliments, ma'am...And says you're to wait for his summons...Things have been a bit delayed below..."

"De...hic...layed...?"

"Sure and the place has gone balmy, ma'am...People running about...Doctor called for...Some lady gone and fainted on the stairs..."

Oh...?

"Mr. Gilbert is upset again, then...?" she nervously eyed the bottle...

"Worse than ever I seen him, ma'am...And crazier goings on than I've ever seen...Best to keep in till he calls..."

Very well...Miss Bratton nodded...The boy touched his cap and closed the door...

"The...Sun...Whose..." she began again...Smiling at the mirror...Indeed, by far the loveliest in the town of Titipu...

William came to with a groan...Looking round the dark, cramped room...A closet of some sort?...Blinking as his eyes adjusted to the darkness at the oddly... nervous?, deceptively frail-looking creature staring at him...Twisting her hands a bit as she watched him struggle weakly with the ropes she'd hastily secured round him...

"Sir...?" Drusilla addressed him quietly...

"Miss...Drusilla...?" he eyed her...

"Yes...We...Are Drusilla..." she nodded gently...

"And we bid you...Welcome..."

"The Soldiers of our Queen..." from "Patience...", Gilbert and Sullivan...

Play

"The soldiers of our Queen

Are linked in friendly tether;

Upon the battle scene

They fight the foe together.

There ev'ry mother's son

Prepared to fight and fall is;

The enemy of one

The enemy of all is!

The enemy of one

The enemy of all is!"

Their implements...Including the stakes recently allowed them by a reluctant Cicely...At the ready...The able...Well, the brave-hearted and true...Assistants of the Slayer...Henry, Jonathan, and Andrew were continuing their pursuit of the fleeing Darla down the alleyways and byways about the Savoy...

While she for her part...A rather unusually content part thanks to Dru's hypnotic abilities...Sought to keep them from suspecting the new location of the family lair...Holding her speed of flight down just enough to let them catch an occasional glimpse of her as she moved further from her dear "grand-daughter"...

Dashing down one rather cluttered alley, dodging piles of refuse and sleeping unfortunates, she found herself emerging into a busy, carriage-clogged street...With her gentlemanly but insistent pursuers hot on her heels...

She hurried out, leaping onto one of the many carriages...Politely apologizing to the shocked driver as she shoved him off and took the reins...

Inside the carriage, one John... "Good Man Jack" Henderson...Famed sportsman and gentleman-about-town...Disappointed ex-suitor to Ms. Cicely Addams...Doing his best to dampen his recent sorrows and humiliation in the company of one Harmony Francis Kendall...Lately rival to the said Ms. Addams, now, for the brief moment, Queen of London society by default...

Poor Henderson...Little realizing that his one chance at lasting fame might yet be denied him by Fate in this particular universe...The naming of the famed vampiral killer, William the Bloody...

Lucky Henderson...Who thereby might yet escape being the object of said William's first experiment involving a novel use of the railroad spike...

Now interrupted in the midst of paying yet another gallant compliment to Miss Kendall...As a light prelude to a rather solemn proposal...She and her 20,000 pounds a year being the new object of his affection...

A famed sportsman and man about town must after all keep an eye out for the practical aspects of life in spite of love's little disappointments...If he is to go on properly supporting that fame and lifestyle...And when the practical comes in such a pleasing, if bland, package as dear Miss Kendall...

But his intentions, honorable on some levels as they might be, were now once again meeting with formidable obstacles...Though in the case of dear Harmony, not ones of her making...

"HEY THERE!..." Henderson cried as he was thrown against the startled, if perhaps somewhat inwardly pleased Miss Kendall...As the carriage lurched violently to the left, Darla quickly seizing on a gap in the flow of foot and carriage traffic in the opposing lane to race onto a less congested thoroughfare...

And the carriage gained yet more uninvited passengers...Andrew and Henry leaping onto the rear and climbing over onto the roof just as Darla made her break, while Jonathan, a moment behind his friends...Found himself in a precarious situation...Holding to the open rear oval window of the carriage as his feet dangled inches from the pavement...

"Darla!..." Henry cried, crawling across the roof towards her, Andrew following...Both suddenly flattening and grabbing onto the roof as the carriage made the sudden turn that had upset Mr. Henderson's plans for the future...As well as Mr. Henderson himself...

Darla turning back to acknowledge the page...Ah, the heroic young gentleman of the previous evening...She gave a hasty but polite nod in greeting and turning back, urged the horses on, bracing herself to be ready to toss the gallant young man...Er, men...She catching sight of the equally brave, if less certain of the situation it being rather a bit out of his line, Mr. Fowler, to whatever fate awaited them in the crowded street below...

Transylvania...The same night...High winds blowing round a bleak and desolate landscape of craggy cliffs...A large, ancient pile of a castle, the legendary ancestral home of the family Dracule, off in the distance...Dark peaks of the rugged Carpathian mountains all about...

And in the foreground...An altar...With large cross prominent on top, a priest of the Orthodox Church reverently praying behind it, sacred implements in his hands ...Several men...And one Other...Standing about...Heads bowed...

One, near the Other, an elderly, distinguished-looking man...Strong in his bearing, cross in hand...As impressive in his quiet dignity as he attended the priest's prayers as was the Other beside him...

And the Other...Iron-gray haired...The face of an arrogantly proud, savagely powerful man...Accustomed to leadership and experienced in command, clearly...Courage and strength and brutality in the face...The face of one who had led thousands to battle...Had ordered the deaths of as many...

And one knew, somehow...Had personally killed in equal numbers...But strangely, savagely different...Inhuman in some way beyond even the nature of the warlord he'd obviously been...

Yet...A gentleness in his expression as he listened, watching the priest...Who waved his implements now...Almost a pleading in his eyes...And a desperate weariness...

The priest finished...And gently laid his implements on the altar...Looking at the men round him, one by one...He switched from Romanian to English, though even many of the foreigners about him in the group had understood his prayers...

"My sons...May God and His Son accept your courage as an offering and bless this ceremony..."

He nodded to the elderly gentleman who carefully nodded back, with a smile of thanks...The priest stood by...

"Well, Count...Very soon now..." Abraham Van Helsing eyed the Other beside him...Count Vlad Dracula, leader of the Dracule, former Defender of the Faith, Prince of Transylvania...Vlad the Impaler, brutal but brilliant general of the valiant armies which had briefly held back the Turkish onslaught in the late 15th century after the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire at Constantinople...

Self-Damned Lord of the Undead for over 400 years...

"May we proceed...Or do you require another treatment?..." Van Helsing asked quietly...His little bag of drugs at hand...

Nothing like a little 7% cocaine solution to quiet the old bloodlust...

The Count shook his head... "I wish to keep my mind as clear as possible now...I will manage quite well, my friend...I thank you..." he gave a harsh but oddly warm smile to the slight, frail but indomitable man...The famed scientist...The implacable enemy...And the sole creature in 400 years to reach out to him in compassion...

No...Not the sole creature, old Dracula remembered, bowing his head as he tensed for the punishment he must face...And was ready to accept...But of the three who in all the empty, agonizing years had found it possible to reach out to him...The first able to combine a practical ability to assist him with that compassion...

The great physician hesitated...The Count smiled, more gently now...Sensing his friend's concern...

"I can bear this, Doctor...Bring them forth...And give them the peace they deserve..."

At a nod from the doctor, several of his men came forward...Carefully tending two sets of carefully chained, heavily drugged, prisoners...Female descendants...And victims...of the Dark Lord...Additionally restrained with various magic and religious items placed on them or carried by the guards...They eyed their Master in terror...All too well aware that he had abandoned them...Or consented to their liberation, depending on one's pov...

"You!...Coward!..."One cried out in Romanian...Another in Turkish...Lord?...

"Silence!..." Old Vlad glared at them...But staring at each in turn, his expression turned strangely gentle, even pleading...

"Accept your fates...And may my heart be strong enough to carry out whatever penance your souls demand..."

"Die!..." one of the oldest screamed at him... "Rot with the carrion, traitor!...Cursed of God and the Darkness!..." he ignored her, and looked at Van Helsing...Who gave the signal...A group of his men, armed with swords, approached the first group of four...

"Uncle!..." one female in the four cried out...He eyed her, impassively...Staring into her until she calmed...

And the swords did their work...The headless bodies dissolving to ash...

And now the second group of guards came forward...Leading a single, regal-looking female...Who remained proudly silent as they cautiously dragged her towards the altar...

Until she stood before it...And spat...Leering at Dracula...Returning his stare...

"You never loved me..." she sneered... "As you never loved my mother...Father..." she glared...

"And my soul curses you as I do..." she laughed... "As does hers...You win nothing...Redemption for you?...Impossible..."

Go ahead...she sneered at the swordsmen approaching... "Let me show you how a daughter of the house of the Dracule dies!...Again..." she eyed her father as he watched...

"Burn...Alone...In torment, Father!..." she chuckled, leering as the sword whistled...

He watched solemnly, closing his eyes a moment, only after the body had vanished...But saw, as they all did, in the instant of destruction, a look of joy in his daughter's face...

"Elisabette..." he whispered...

"At peace, at last..." Van Helsing solemnly noted...And crossed himself...As, after a moment's hesitation...Did the Count...

"And now..." the physician eyed the priest...Who bowed and withdrew...The coming ceremony secretly blessed and sanctioned but not condoned...

(Whoa...Standing by the table, Innkeeper Willie eyed the young Dracula who stared at Angelus, a bit floored himself...Never having heard the full details of the destruction of the dear "grand-aunties...", including the Grande Dame, Elisabette, Jr. herself...

Quite an exit for the beautiful ole battleaxe...

Angelus paused solemnly in his tale...Eyeing Vladimir now with a slight gleam...Then Mr. Stoker who was rubbing his chin with a clearly professional interest...

Bit different from the way the "young" Count had described Dr. Van Helsing's encounter with his famed ancestor to him...But rather interesting in its own way...

The youthful-looking Count got hold of himself quickly...No need to let that damned fool parvenu Angelus think he'd gotten to him there with a bit of family history unknown to him...And time to remind Stoker who was directing their little writing project...

"Yes...I'd heard that legend of my famed ancestor..." he smiled...Stoker turning to him... "But I'd planned to retain that aspect of his demise as a surprise...For a later tale..."

In which he returns, unsettled in his rest until his atonement and redemption are complete...he explained to the somewhat bemused author...

"I saw it as excellent sequel material..."

Indeed?...Angelus frowned...Eyes narrowing...Like heck Vladimir had heard about this...Old Vlad wouldn't touch his slimeball great-grandson with a ten foot stake when he was Dark Lord of us all...He'd never have dropped in for a chat after his redemption...

"Yes...But..." Vladimir smiled... "Do not let me interrupt you from your amusing little tale, my friend...Continue by all means..."

"Rescue us from a dreary evening..." he waved at the windows, now lashed by wind and dark rain...

"Please...And..." he turned to Willie... "More of the same for myself...And gentlemen?..." They nodded..

"Yes..." Angelus glared..."Well...Anyway...Here...In Transylvania...The great ceremony was almost ready..."

"But...Back in London...")

March, 1880...

London, the Savoy Theater...A storage closet in the sub-basement currently occupied by the Angelus pride...

Drusilla eyed the feebly struggling, well-trussed William...

"You have come at last...Here...To me...To us..."

To help...Me...At last...A thought within...To be with me...Forever...A counter thought opposed...As her dual natures briefly confronted each other before resuming their temporary alliance...

Odd that she hadn't killed him yet...he thought as his head cleared a bit...She almost seems...Anxious to win his consent to whatever hideous fate she had in mind for him?...For some bizarre reason...

Competition with her nemesis the Slayer, perhaps...?

Noting her bemused, somewhat confused air...He tried to shake his head...

"I see..." she nodded... "You don't understand it all yet...You can't choose...Not until you've seen all we have to give you...William..."

"And what she has done to you...For her own sake...You must see...What we are...We...And your little Cicely...For we are more alike than you guess..."

Come...she grabbed his ropes, pulling him...

"This place is no longer safe for us...We must go further...Here..." she pointed to the wall opposite where a large theatrical poster covered part...A rather recent poster advertizing the current work in progress...

Which she gently moved aside to show an opening which she with Darla's assistance had made to the network of tunnels and sewers running about the basements of the buildings above...

(The poster covering was my legendary ancestor and namesake's idea, Angelus happily noted to Stoker...

We should be surprised he did a good job of concealing his escape route?...Vladimir silently eyed Willie...

"And speaking of my legendary ancestor...")

Who was at this moment bending every stout-hearted fiber of his incredible vampiral being to the protection of his little family by leading the indomitable Miss Rosenberg and Chairman Rathskeller on a wild chase through the ground floor of the Savoy...

While above Simon Farris, Watcher to the Slayer, had made his way to his charge, whose cries on the stairs had summoned help in the form of several staff and a few of the actors not yet called to the stage by Mr. Gilbert...

"Cicely!..." he called as she stared wildly at him, several well-meaning fools now attempting to restrain her, blocking her path as she tried to rise from her knees and continue her stagger down the stairs...

"Simon!...Where?...Simon!..." she gasped... "Help me!..."

"Poor lamb...Best to get her inside to the dressing room here and wait for the doctor..." one stout, sympathetic female costumer turned to Farris, shaking her head, as he made his way up to her...Shoving back several...

"Get...Out of...My...Way!..." Cicely shrieked, reaching out blindly to push those about her back...

"Now Miss...Hey!..." one fellow tried to calm her, she tossing him aside, rising to her feet...

"Stop this, girl!..." one woman grabbed her from behind... "You're going to harm yourself and your child!..."

There was genuine rage now in Farris' voice as he threw one man back and came to her... "Get back, you fools!...Let her be!..."

Cicely...he stared at her...But made no move to help her as she tried to continue down...

"Sir..." the kindly costumer had reached Cicely as well... "I fear she's lost it...We must get her to a seat...The doctor is being called..."

Yes, yes...Farris impatiently nodded...

"Cicely..." he called to her... "You must stop...It will do no good..." she looked back up at him...Pleading...

"I and the others will find him...You must stop..."

"No..." she shook her head..."There's...No...Time..."

"I can't let him go!..."

He pulled at her now...The others clustering round, more blocking her way...

"Get back!..."she cried... "Get...Back...Or I'll kill you all!..." she raised "Dickens" and slashed, causing a couple of those in front of her to jump back...Farris taking her other arm as she collapsed...

"Simon...William..." she twisted at him, staring, as several grabbed her and carefully lifted her...The costumer directing them onto the third floor hallway...

"We'll find him, my dear...Let them help you..." he told her...Releasing the hand she desperately clasped his with for a brief second and watching them carry her off...

And that...He thought...As she disappeared through the stairway door...

Hopefully...At last...

Is that...

Still, one must keep up appearances...Not be seen to be slacking it...He started downstairs in haste...

Pausing only to give one last, bitter glance up to where she'd been...Where the final proof of her betrayal beyond all doubt had been flung at him...Not that he hadn't realized almost on seeing her tonight...

A child...By that fool...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page . , or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

[the same old request for indulgence by G and S fans...This is an AU and the boys are working faster...]

Part XXXI...

March, 1880, night of the Mikado dress rehearsal...

London, a moderately busy street near the Savoy Theater...Now somewhat busier thanks to Darla's mad dash into it...

Hanging on desperately to the back window of the racing carriage Darla had just appropriated for her use, one Jonathan Levinson, noted barrister-on-the-rise, former suitor, friend, and assistant to Cicely Addams-Walthrop...Who managing to lift himself slightly, saw into the carriage where one Harmony Francis Kendall, new Queen (by default) of London society and famed sportsman John "Goodman Jack" Henderson were trying to regain their seats and determine what the hell had interrupted their tete-a`-tete...

"Levinson!..." Henderson looked out at him, holding on to the window by the slightest... "What the devil are you doing there?...Get off this carriage at once!..." Uh...he was tossed once again against the side of a rather pleased Miss Kendall...As Darla made another sharp, lurching turn...

"Pardon me..." Jonathan replied politely...Trying to pull himself up...While instinctively checking for his hat to pull off in Miss Kendall's presence...Whoops...He grabbed at the window opening...Fortunately no need to remove a hat that had long ago fallen to the street...

A sudden metallic groaning as the overburdened carriage roof...Not really designed to support the weight of two strong men, plus a strong but slender vampiress now trying to lean on it to reach back to throw one or more of her pursuers off that roof...Began buckling...

The Savoy Theater...Ground floor...

Where the noble Angelus...Dutiful to the last...Was bravely attempting to lead those who threatened his little vampiral "family" away from his loved ones...Miss Rosenberg and Chairman of the Council of Watchers, Arthur Rathskeller in hot pursuit...

"Pardon me..." he bowed to a flustered young lady costumer as he flew open the door of her workroom...Grabbing her, snapping her neck, and propping her body against that door as his pursuers tried to force it open...

He tossed several boxes and a sewing machine into the path of anyone coming through that door...Now being slowly forced open as the poor woman's body moved with sickening lurches and several sharp cracks...Running to the rear door, he smashed through and found himself in a small room barely large enough to hold him...Hmmn...

The door to the front of the room he'd just vacated opened enough for Miss Rosenberg and the Chairman to squeeze...Oh, God...Willow sighed at the poor remains of the costumer...Now forced into an unspeakable position...

"Angelus!..." Arthur firmly called...Stepping carefully over the body...

Hmmn...Don't think "Who, sir...?" is likely to work in this particular situation Angelus thought as Willow and Rathskeller halted and pulled crosses and stakes...He grabbed at the little room's door and slammed it shut...

The street outside the Savoy Theater...

"Hang on, Andrew!..." Henry called...As Darla, having made her latest turn successfully, turned back to grab at him...

"Hold on there, Foxcroft...I'll be right along..." Andrew called back...Hmmn...He saw Darla making another hard swipe at Henry, now pressing himself down on the carriage roof as it began to give way...

She caught his arm this time and began dragging him closer...Andrew pondering the situation as Henry grabbed at the roof...What to do?...He crawled closer, quickly as he could...Darla giving a tentative heave which almost broke Henry's grip...

Hmmn...Truly a bit out of my line...Fowler thought...Still...

He reached down swiftly and grabbing a shoe, flung it at the vampiress...Striking her full in the face as she tensed to give a final toss...

OH!...She released Henry and dropped back...Staggered a bit...Feeling her face...Which assumed demon form...Raging demon form...

Nothing like a good whack across the face to bring one out of thrall...

"You bastard!..." she shrieked at Fowler...Who gave a slightly sheepish, apologetic shrug...Striking a woman like that, even of the vampiral demonic sort...Not exactly his sort of preferred behavior...Rather a bit of the cad, eh what?...

"Truly sorry, miss...Unavoidable, you know..." he called...As Henry crawled back...The carriage suddenly lurching to a stop as the horses, their reins dropped by the howling Darla, followed their careful training for such situations and halted...

Darla fell back and off...As Jonathan, still hanging to the rear...fell forward, tearing the window hole wide...And the carriage roof gave way, plunging Fowler and Foxcroft into the presence of the startled and rather bruised Henderson and Miss Kendall...Now somewhat less pleased by the course of this exciting night's action...

"What the hell!..." Henderson sputtered uselessly...Pulling at the torn roof and frame... "Oh!..." Harmony cried...Slightly injured by the badly bent section of frame which more importantly had ruined her new gown...

"Our deepest apologies..." Jonathan mumbled as he blearly looked round the battered carriage...Looking at Henry sprawled on the remains of the broken roof, Fowler rather more comfortable, have fallen by luck onto the seat by Henderson... "Darla!..." he cried to Henry who looked at him blankly a second then shook himself...

"Outside!...We must hurry...Is everyone alright?...Andrew?...Miss?..Miss Kendall?..." Henry eyed a battered-looking Harmony...Only beginning to overcome her dazed and confused state and fire up the rage furnace...

"I'll have the law on you all, Foxcroft!..." Henderson raged... "What do you mean, coming here upon us like this?..." As Henry clambered back up to the open roof and looking round for the now-vanished Darla, jumped off onto the ground...Jonathan following a bit more slowly...

"Very sorry, ole fellow..." Andrew noted pleasantly, bowing to Miss Kendall...You...she glared at him...He likewise climbing up...The side doors being hopelessly crushed...

"We're engaged in a hunt...Excuse us..." he looked back down into the carriage... "Happy to send some help round about soon as we catch our vampire miss...Thousand pardons..." he gave another slight bow to Harmony and jumped as well...Henderson staring up...Vampire?...

"Did he say...Vampire?..." he stared at his companion...Whose now well-fired rage was now finding another target...

"Get me out of here, you clod!..." Harmony shrieked at him...

Threading his way carefully through the crowd milling on the stairs, Simon Farris, Watcher to the Slayer, had reached the second floor...Preparing to open to begin his "exhaustive search" of another floor for Cicely's beloved Walthrop...Cross and stake at the ready...As Drusilla was not likely to know or care about his own role in arranging her rendevous with the little poet...

A call from above stopping him...The kindly, middle-aged costumer who'd had Cicely brought to a dressing room on the floor above...

"Sir...Sir...Come back, please..." she called to him...He looked up at her...She shook her head and he nodded...

"The lady...?" he paused...

"I think she'll be alright...The doctor is coming...But please sir..."

He went back up the stairs...Thoughts whirling in his brain...He reached the woman who patted him...

"Are you her father, sir...?" No...he shook his head...

And yes...he thought...A gray cloud in front of his eyes for just a moment...

"What...Was it...?"

"Too soon, sir...I couldn't say..." the woman looked sadly at him...

"But she's young and strong..."

Yes...he nodded...And followed her up the stairs...A little girl, frightened, staring at him out of the darkness in his mind...A young Cicely, brought before him for the first time...Her governess, a Council agent, standing by...

A girl he thought...It must have been a girl...Another Cicely...

My grand-daughter...of sorts...

I should ask Halfreck at her next manifestation he irrationally thought as he stumbled through the door to the floor...

In the tunnel network surrounding the theater and its neighboring buildings a fierce-looking Drusilla glared away several rats who'd come to see the show as she dragged the battered William along...But her voice was gentle, even pleading as she spoke to him, urging him on...

"Just a bit, sir...Please...We must hurry..."

He struggled feebly in her grip and she paused...Staring at him...

"Surely you can't want us to meet tonight...In her condition..." she eyed him...As he stared back...She looked intently at him...Blinking...

"You didn't know?...Oh...Sir...I am sorry to have told you like this..."

He tried to speak, the hasty gag she'd put on his mouth, slipping a bit...

"Please, sir...Please just a bit more and we can talk..." she readjusted the gag and took firm hold of him...A strange look coming into her eyes...Oh...No...No...She closed her eyes...And he saw a tear run...

No...she murmured...No...You swore...You swore...Oh, God...she whispered...Not looking at him...

And as quickly she relaxed and stared at him again... "We're going now..." And pulling him, began moving down the tunnel...

"You are mine..." she breathed as she half-dragged, half-carried him..."Mine..."

"Mine forever..."


	3. Chapter 3

Drusilla...

PG-13

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page . , or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

[the same old request for indulgence by G and S fans...This is an AU and the boys are working faster...]

Play Theme for Cicely the Vampire Slayer...

Part XXXII...

March 1880, Night of the Mikado dress rehearsal...London, the Savoy Theater, ground floor...

"Wait, Miss Rosenberg..." Rathskeller put a hand to keep her back...A slight frown forming on Willow's lovely but grim face...As she prepared to advance on the door of the closet where the noble vampiral prince Angelus had taken temporary refuge from his pursuers...

In the interest of keeping his little 'family' of sorts undetected and safe, of course...

"I mean that for both of us...Even armed we're not a match for Angelus..." the Chairman noted in a whisper, looking at Willow's beautiful, somewhat angry face...Discretion is the better part of valor, he smiled...She calmed a bit, sighed, and nodded...

(Though given Angelus' cowering...Vladimir thought...Smiling blandly over at Willie...)

"But we can't leave him in there..." she eyed him...And his careworn but rather handsome, lean face...He looks tired, poor thing...Tired but gallantly determined...she thought...No, Arthur agreed... "But we've got to have help before we go charging that door..."

Gallantly determined to see this though...And...She resisted the overwhelming desire to beam at him...Protect me...

But Duty and the honor of the Van Helsing-Rosenberg family of vampire hunters being at stake, she focused on the task at hand...

And she had no intention of being sent off to find help like some helpless little...Arthur turned back to the door to the costumer's workroom, gently moved the poor woman's much abused corpse, and flung the door open...

Ummn...You're not leaving me here alone with Angelus?...she started a moment, staring at him...

"Help!...Get help!...A woman has been murdered!..." Rathskeller called out in a strong voice...And turned back to Willow...

Phew...Not that I couldn't have dealt with it, of course...Willow thought...

Several now in the hall off the main auditorium stared over...Among them the somewhat bewildered Sir Arthur Sullivan and the ever calm D'Oyly Carte...Who'd set out in search of their friend Rathskeller after he and his companion had raced off from them below...

"Murdered...?" Sir Arthur eyed Carte who offered a reassuringly calm expression and put up an experienced hand...Just a moment, lets look into this...

Was hoping to avoid this sort of thing, Carte sighed inwardly...Thank God, it's only the dress rehearsal...

"Rathskeller?...That you...?" he called...As he, Sullivan, and two others...Thankfully, his people Carte noted...Went to the door...

"Yes..." Arthur nodded...Waving them in...To see a tense-looking Miss Rosenberg in ball gown, a large pointed stick in one hand, a cross in the other...Facing the room's closet door...From behind which a sound as if someone were stumbling around in the dark inside...And on the floor...

"My God!..." Sullivan looked at the poor corpse... "Evie Sinclair...D'Oyly..." he turned to Carte...

"What has happened, Rathskeller...?" Carte looked at the Chairman...

"I'm afraid Carte...That I must regret to inform you that we have a vampire...Trapped in that closet..." he pointed...

"A what?..." Sullivan stared...

"A vampire, Arthur..." Carte told him quietly, turning back to Rathskeller... "I see...Another one, eh...?"

Sullivan blinked... "You believe..." he started...

"Our friend Rathskeller has other career interests besides his antiquarian researches, Arthur..." Carte coolly explained... "And was instrumental in helping us rid ourselves of a similar problem back at the old theater..."

Willow hearing, looking back in surprise...

"I'm afraid...To be honest...There are likely to be several involved here..." Rathskeller sighed to Carte... "But I assure you, Miss Rosenberg and I had no idea they were here when we came tonight..."

"Quite all right..." Carte nodded...Sullivan still staring...Vampires?...

Hmmn...Vampires...I wonder if Gilbert has ever considered...

"Well..." Carte eyed the Chairman... "What's to be done?...I assume we should refrain from summoning police just yet until our friend over there is dealt with...?"

"It might be best..." Rathskeller nodded...A crash from within the closet...Groan...

"What about Mrs. Walthrop?..." Willow suggested... "Is she near about?..."

"Cicely...?" Sullivan stared... Lovely girl but what the devil...?

"She is our current Slayer..." Rathskeller explained... "And might be the best person to deal with the brute in there..." Hmm-hmmn...Carte nodded...And turning to one of his two men, sent him off to seek the said lady...

Brute?...Angelus, a tad put out...Hardly a sporting choice of word to describe your adversary, sir...he thought...Still searching for some way out of his predicament other than a gallant charge back through the room...

Slayer?...Thought Sullivan...

"In any case, we will require more assistance before we deal with Angelus in there..."

'Deal with Angelus?'...The noble Angelus, listening from the closet, thought, somewhat annoyed... (The memory still rankling, obviously...Willie and Vladimir each noted to their mutual amusement...)

"Angelus...?" Sullivan asked politely...Interesting name...Must remember it for Gilbert...Hmmn...Ah, of course, he sighed, watching Rathskeller and Miss Rosenberg as they whisperingly debated their next move, Carte and his remaining man at their side...Vampires...Slayers of vampires...Magic and the occult...

Gilbert and his little jokes...And D'Oyly indulging him...Well, nice to see he's continuing his efforts to breathe some new life into his topsy-turvydom...Though this does sound a bit on the dark side for our usual audience...

Three blocks away from the Savoy...A narrow alleyway...

Henry, Jonathan, and Andrew...Gallant Slayer's assistants that they were...Charged on into the alley...Over several hapless, drunken or worse, wretches and past a rather annoyed streetwalker whose client had fled on Darla's and their appearance...In hot pursuit of a newly released from Dru's thrall and therefore rather confused, disoriented, and increasingly furious Darla...

"All right...!" she suddenly whirled back to face them as she neared the end of the alley...The three men halting and pulling back abruptly in some shock at her snarling demon face...

Not exactly the sort of "ladylike" behavior they'd come to expect from her in their recent encounters...

She resumed human face as they stood, stakes in hand, Henry and Jonathan holding forth crosses...

"What the devil do you three idiots want of me?...Because gentlemen, you've picked a bad night to become a plague to me..."

"We want Drusilla, Miss Darla..." Henry told her firmly... "Take us to her and we'll allow you to go..."

"What?..." she blinked...Amusement now taking hold...And perhaps just a trace of resentment, jealously, and buried far, far below...A trace...Just the faintest trace...Of despair...

Will no one ever come for me?...For my sake?...Does no one care?...

Genuine curiosity...A dutiful nineteenth century "grandparent's" insistence on maintaining good discipline...And her natural desire for revenge...Especially after the last week's humiliation serving as Dru's enthralled 'loving grandmother'...(Not to mention that miserable, worthless mate of hers ordering her around like some feeble human wife...)...Now included as well...

"You gentlemen seek Drusilla?...Whatever for...?"

"It hardly matters..." Henry shrugged... "Will you take us to her or...?"

"Or...What?..." she beamed sweetly...Looking them over...

Henry eyed his companions...Not a bad question thought Jonathan...Rather wishing he'd found a way to bring along his new crossbow...

"Well..." she waved a hand... "Leave that for now...The fact is, my dears..." she smiled... "I'm not unwilling to consider your request...If you give me more information as to why you should wish to meet with my gentle little 'gran...' Ummn... 'Cousin'..."

"We only wish to help save her soul...And protect those her demon would harm..." Henry began...

Oh...Darla nodded...

Only little humans would consider terminating one's Immortal existence with some dirty, foul little piece of wood to be...'helping'...she thought...

Hmmn...She eyed the bunch...Not exactly a formidable trio...

Still, if one of them got lucky with one of those stakes while she dealt with the others...Her likely luck given her fate these past few weeks...

"The Slayer would be grateful to hear you'd offered us assistance..." Jonathan now tried a new tack...Negotiation...As befitting an experienced and capable barrister...

"The...Slayer?..." Darla paused...Looking about...

"Am I to understand?...You gentlemen are associated with the Slayer...?"

"We assist her..." Jonathan nodded...As did Andrew...Though a bit out of our lines...he thought...Keeping his stake at the ready...

You're putting me on...Darla thought, blinking...

That poor girl...

Still...If they were telling the truth...And few pranksters would be likely to know of the Slayer...

"I might...Perhaps...Be able to give you some assistance in locating Drusilla..." she noted, smiling pleasantly... "But if we are to travel though the busy streets we must...I suggest you put away those things..."

"Once we get into those busy streets, Miss Darla...And you keeping ahead of us..." Henry nodded...

"And in return for this service?...You and your Slayer would allow me...And my mate?...A chance to depart in peace?..." (After all, I want the chance to rip him apart with my own hands...she thought)

"A few hours'...Perhaps a night's grace...So long as no human is harmed during that time..."

"Fair enough, sir..." she smiled, nodding... "Well then..." she beamed at Jonathan... "Shall we go?..."

"You first, Miss..." he eyed her...He, Henry, and Andrew carefully moving to allow her a chance to slip ahead...

"Naturally, sir..." she brushed off her dress a bit and proceeded past them and back up the alleyway to the street beyond...The three men cautiously following...

"What?...All three of 'em?...We are a forward lass..." the prostitute in the doorway at the head of the alleyway eyed the odd group as they passed...Darla giving her a slight frown...But for the sake of her temporary arrangement, refraining from what would have been her usual response...

"Yes, well...Perhaps if you developed a bit of class, girl, you'd do a reasonable trade..." she called back...Carefully noting the location for future reference if time should allow...

Trade?...Andrew hissed to Jonathan...Eyeing the woman in the doorway who leered at him...Need a better, love?...she laughed to him... "She doesn't seem the type to be in our line...Tucker's and mine, you know?..."

Jonathan whispering a hasty explanation as they continued on into the street after a pleasantly strolling Darla...

Oh...Andrew nodded...That trade...Yes...

"Bit out of my line..."

In the Savoy third floor dressing room, a wan-looking Cicely returning to consciousness stared round at the sea of faces hovering over her...The kindly large costumer patting her hands as she lay on a small settee...

"Doctor's on his way..." one man called from in back of the group...

"Clear back...Give the poor thing some air..." several suggested at once, to little avail...

"There, there girl..." the costumer told her... "See, the doctor will be here shortly...Here, now..." she frowned at a few shoving in for a close look... "Get back and let her be..."

"I..." Cicely gasped... "Doctor?...No..."

No...she groaned...Sensing...She looked up at the woman who read her thoughts...And shook her head...

"My dear...I am so sorry...But you're young yet..."

Such a dreadful thing to have happen on rehearsal night...A dignified-looking middle-age lady in kimono, one of several members of the chorus merciful spared Mr. Gilbert's wrath as not yet needed on stage, hissed to her companion... "Mr. G is surely to have a fit on hearing..."

"No...No..." Cicely shook her head, tears spilling over her face... "I haven't even told him yet...No..."

"Can I get him for you...?" the costumer asked gently... "Is he downstairs with the other guests?..."

"Simon?...Where's Simon?...The older gentleman?..." Cicely looked around...

"He was here, dear...But left just as you revived...I believe he went to fetch your..." the lady delicately paused...Glancing hastily...Ah...She noted the ring... "...husband..."

Yes...the Slayer sat up slowly...Dazedly staring at the concerned faces around her...Trying to hold back the raging thoughts...

Just as Simon warned me...I cannot protect the ones I love...Now our child is dead...And my husband may be worse than dead...She swayed a moment...

No...I am not ready to surrender Will to It...If we die, we die...she grabbed at the wall and steadied herself...But I will not let him die alone...

"I'm quite all right now..." she rose carefully... "Thank you for your kindness..." The costumer and several others staring at her... My dear...?

Did she really say she'd kill us all back on the stairs?...One gentleman in the forefront of the swelling group in the room and now spilling into the hallway asked a friend...Indeed...And looked like she'd do it, too...the other shook his head...

"Amazing thing that maternal instinct..."

Several moved to restrain her...The costumer taking her hand... "No, my dear...You must..."

She stared back at the woman, then the others immediately in her way...Nothing but cold Slayer in her eyes...Several involuntarily dropping back...

"Thank you...I'm fine...Please get out of my way..." she said in a low voice...Of steel...

"Now!..." she glared at the kindly lady who removed her hand, backing off...Blinking...

"Now, Miss..." one well-meaning gentleman tried to pull at her...She tossed him aside and plowed straight through the crowd without a word...Wasting no time on those moving to stop her...Gone in seconds...

The stunned group looked at each other...And the several now lying scattered about, in various sprawled poses, solely by chance none badly injured...

"The doctor..." an attendant just up from below...Fortunately for him from the opposite stairway to that which a grimly determined Cicely had just taken...Stared round at the groaning injured... "...is here..."

A good thing that too, he thought...But, the young lady?...he asked...Several among the crowd shrugging...

"Well..." one chipper young gentleman looking about...

"It appears she really was feeling better..."

Just a matter of staying the course now...Farris told himself as he descended the stairs, slipping past several idle theater hands and a few guests milling about either discussing the evening's extraordinary excitements or actively trying to reach the fourth floor and view the scene...

A matter of remembering where one's best interests lay and...Cicely's distraught face appeared before him, staring...Pleading...

Pleading for...he angrily brushed her image from his mind...

Her whole form now appeared suddenly, two steps below him...Looking surprisingly calm and composed...he blinked...Ah...

"Miss Halfreck?..." he eyed her as she looked up at him...

"I understand that condolences are to be offered..." she smiled...Finding herself rather startled by the harsh look he gave her in return...Impressive enough to even give a vengeance demon a strong desire to be elsewhere, quickly...she blinked...

"Is something...Well, apart from my thoughtless violation of your people's proprieties...For which I apologize...Wrong, Mr. Farris...?"

"No..." he shook his head curtly... "All quite well...Walthrop has been taken by our little friend...And Cicely..."

"Yes, I know...Again my apologies, sir...I should have put it more delicately..."

Several persons now moving up towards them...Farris hastily suggested they find a more isolated spot...

"The second floor here is practically deserted..." Haly pointed...They exited the stairway and quickly found an empty office which the demon unlocked...A gift, she smiled...Opening the door...

"I must be quick...Cicely sent me after Drusilla and Walthrop..."

Yes...Haly nodded...And she is seeking him again herself now, poor thing...

"A very devotedly loving creature, your Slayer..." she eyed him... "And though she has lost her child, Walthrop is not yet dead..."

"Well then..." Farris frowned... "Shouldn't you be seeing that Drusilla completes her little task?..."

"I intend to..." Haly smiled... "I merely wanted to coordinate matters with my ally..."

"And to see that you intend that our agreement be kept in full..." a slight edge in her voice...

He stared at her coldly...Sensed my hesitation, eh...?

"She might have died just then...If your Drusilla had done things properly..." he noted... "And I have every intention of keeping to my agreement with your Lord..."

Yes...Haly frowned, nodding... "I'm afraid that human soul of Drusilla's is attempting to make difficulties for us...It may have been a mistake to contact it in the first place..." she sighed... "But her demon alone was just too unfocused..."

"In any case...I am glad that you are not troubled by any doubts, sir..." she beamed... "Well, I should be about my business and get over to our Dru...I'll contact you as soon as the time and situation allow..."

Oh...she paused... "Drusilla has taken Walthrop to the tunnels below the buildings hereabouts..."

"If you could possibly keep Cicely from us for just a bit?...She's headed back to Dru's lair now...Just passing us now..." she pointed at the closed opposite stairway door... "At quite astounding speed..."

"Remarkable thing, love...Even given her Slayer recuperative powers..." she smiled at him...And vanished...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page . , or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

[the same old request for indulgence by G and S fans...This is an AU and the boys are working faster...]

Part XXXIII...

March, 1880...Just past 11 pm...

London...The network of underground tunnels running among several buildings around the Savoy theater...

Drusilla, her prize in tow, halted and gently set the battered William down beside her...He groggily stared round...A large tunnel chamber of one of the major sewers...Lit well by dozens of candles which she, with her enthralled 'grandmother' Darla's assistance, had spent the past week snatching or otherwise acquiring and setting here...

She sighed at his wanly furious face...Too soon, she admitted to herself...Both herselves...I have moved too quickly...It is not quite yet my time...If the visions hold true...

And yet...What was to be done?...

You lied to me...A thought asserted itself...You said he would choose us...Freely...And now, because of us...

She pushed the traitorous thought down...Foolish, weak sister...But could not repress the next which came to both herselves...

He must hate us forever...When he learns...

"We will take him, now...He will never hear of it..." she hissed...Audibly, she realized with a start as he stared at her...

"I'm sorry..." she smiled gently... "I sometimes talk with myself...It is lonely for me and sometimes there is only my sister for company..."

Your sister?...he looked about feebly...Slowly sitting up...Staring at the creature whose wan face now seemed so gentle as to be that of an kindly angel...

She waved a hand... "Call it imagination if you like...Mr.?.." she eyed him...

"Walthrop...I thought you knew..."

"I do..." she nodded... "But I thought we should be properly introduced..."

"And you?...Miss Drusilla...Who were you?..."

She blinked at him a moment...In all the years...No one...

"I..." she paused... "I was about...To...When Angelus killed me...But so many thoughts..." she paused... "So many years and days to remember...It's hard for me..."

And gently smiled... "My name is Legion...For we are many..."

So many...Voices...she murmured...As he watched...Yet, so alone...she sighed...

"There is someone, though..." he looked at her... "You called her... 'Bad Sister...Soul..'..."

"Ah...You're very attentive, sir..." she nodded...

"You have a contact?...Some kind of connection?...With your human soul?..."

"She and I talk...Some times...We are almost one...She is me, after all...And I sprang from her..."

"I can't believe your soul was ever evil, Miss..." he stared at her carefully...

She was silent...Staring at the wall a moment...He sensed something going on within...

"Why did you bring me here, Miss?..."

"I told you, sir...You are mine...Promised to me..." she hastily turned back to him, almost glad it seemed of the diversion from her own thoughts... "And I mean to show you what you will gain from being with me..."

"I am not yours, girl...Whoever's told you this is deceiving you...Listen to me..."

"Well then..." she glared... "Shall I finish you and we'll see what your demon has to say...?" she moved on him now...Staring...

He tried to back away as best he could...Then...Thinking quickly...

"You said...You were sorry to tell me...This way?..."

She stopped...

"What was it you were sorry to tell me, Miss Drusilla?..."

"Sir..." she shook her head... "You know very well what I meant...But I do regret...Spoiling what should..." she paused...A hand wave...

"This is all foolishness, silly human nonsense...You are mine and I will take you, now...Even if..."

"Your 'sister' objects?..."

"You want to do great things, William..." she began, ignoring his last question... "I can lead you to greatness...She never can...The dark world offers gifts you can't imagine...I can be your guide to a new world..." she pulled him over to some stairs, old and dank...Mind your step, sir...She lead him down...

"I don't equate killing a large number of innocent people with 'greatness', Miss...Though you are right, I'm vain enough to seek after 'great things'...One of which I've managed to find..."

She paused on a step and glared at him...Then sighed...William...

"Sir, I can take stronger measures with you...Your wife is in no condition to do battle with me and I spared her for your sake at our meeting just now...But I could go and seek her..."

"Do that, Miss...And if you survive I think you'll find even my demon does not appreciate you and all you have to offer..." he stared at her as firmly as his battered condition would allow...

Though my soul might appreciate having Cicely in Heaven with me...he noted...Eyeing her carefully as her face betrayed something...Uncertainty?...

So that's it...he thought...My demon isn't enough for her...That's why she's taking her time...

"I won't stay with you, Drusilla...I will seek her and all you'll get is my demon..."

"I could be content with that, sir...Never fear..." she frowningly replied...Then relaxed...Smiling again... "But you are a good man, concerned for your wife...It's admirable in you...Come now, William, come...See what I have for you down here..." she resumed pulling him down the stairs...

The Savoy, ground floor...

In the small workroom where Chairman Rathskeller and Miss Rosenberg prepared to do battle with the gallant vampire prince Angelus, currently trapped in the closet at the rear, another look at the twisted body of poor Evie Sinclair, costumer, had relieved Sir Arthur Sullivan of any notion that his old friend and manager, D'Oyly Carte was staging a little playlet to test out a new, somewhat darker than usual, Gilbert theme...

"It's true, isn't it D'Oyly?..." he stared at Carte... "You really do believe that the man in there is a vampire..."

"I'm afraid so, Arthur..." Carte nodded calmly... "But whatever the fiend in there is...He is certainly not a man..."

"Stand by, gentlemen..." Rathskeller called to them... "The creature may try a charge...Carte, can you get more men in here?...And have my man outside contact my people?..." He nodded and moving to the door, called to several staff outside the room, now engaged in keeping any curious guests away...

Within the back closet, the noble Angelus pondered his options...No way to be sure what those awaiting him just outside that door had in terms of weapons...And while his brave heart urged a gallant charge against his foes, his tender concern for his poor 'family' moved him to seek a less desperate course...

Perhaps it was time to utilize his most celebrated talent...

"Gentlemen...And lady?..." he called... "I think there has been a misunderstanding here...I am not the fiend you seek...Please allow me to come out...I have no weapon of any kind...And I can explain..."

"I was simply afraid when I came upon the creature attacking that woman...Surely you can understand that..."

"Take this...Ummn...Sir Arthur..." Willow handed Sullivan a stake which he took gingerly...Hmmn...He stared at it... "...and watch that door carefully...Be ready to defend yourself..."

"Angelus...I am Arthur Rathskeller, Chairman of the Council of Watchers..." Rathskeller replied firmly... "I will allow you to surrender...Intact...If you tell us where Drusilla has gone with Mr. Walthrop...At once..."

Arthur...? Willow stared at him...

"Angelus, sir?...I..."

"Please, Angelus...This is no time for your games...You can surrender and be granted existence under guard and study...Or you can be reduced to ashes as you deserve...What is your choice?..."

Hmmn...The noble vampiral prince faced a grim decision...Which must needs cleave even his stout heart...But there was nothing he could do for poor Drusilla should he be reduced to ashes...And she'd probably already found safely in the vast network of tunnels she and Darla had broken into from their cellar lair earlier that week...

"Very well, sir...If I have your solemn promise I will not be destroyed, I will tell you where you may seek her..."

Play

("In enterprise of martial kind,

When there was any fighting,

He led his regiment from behind-

He found it less exciting.

But when away his regiment ran,

His place was at the fore, O-

That celebrated,

Cultivated,

Underrated

Nobleman,

The Duke of Plaza-Toro!

In the first and foremost flight, ha, ha!

You always found that knight, ha, ha!

That celebrated,

Cultivated,

Underrated

Nobleman,

The Duke of Plaza-Toro!

When, to evade Destruction's hand,

To hide they all proceeded,

No soldier in that gallant band

Hid half as well as he did.

He lay concealed throughout the war,

And so preserved his gore, O!

That unaffected,

Undetected,

Well-connected

Warrior,

The Duke of Plaza-Toro!

In every doughty deed, ha, ha!

He always took the lead, ha, ha!

That unaffected,

Undetected,

Well-connected

Warrior,

The Duke of Plaza-Toro!"

- from "The Gondoliers", Gilbert and Sullivan...

Willie sang as he went to fetch his guests another round, Vladimir joining in with a grin as Angelus glared...Having paused in his tale to give his request to the little innkeeper...Mr. Stoker currently jotting a few notes, Angelus just previously graciously agreeing to his borrowing anything of use for his and Vladimir's tale...

"Sorry, my friend..." the younger Dracula smiled at his fellow vampire's narrow look... "But the setting of the current passage of your tale has given two devotees of your adopted country's famed musical comedy team license to indulge themselves..."

"But please, continue..." He gave an airy wave and toothy smile..."Your 'fabled ancestor' was trapped in a broom closet and about to surrender and betray his own offspring...?" )

Outside the Savoy theater...March 1880, 11:15pm...

Darla paused by a sewer manhole...Eyeing it, then her companions, and waiting pleasantly...

"Down there, you mean?..." Henry Foxcroft, cousin and assistant to the Slayer, looked at her...

"Indeed, sir..." she smiled... "And if you would be so kind..." She eyed the cover...

"Watch her, Jonathan...Andrew?..." he motioned to Mr. Fowler to assist him with the cover...

Hmmn...Jonathan stared at the smiling Darla, now patiently waiting...She could probably lift that cover off with one hand and toss it several blocks...

But I suppose the social proprieties remain...Even for the Undead...

"I must say, sir..." she beamed at him as Henry and Andrew tugged desperately at the cover... "I do respect your desire to assist the Slayer in such dangerous work..."

"Thank you, miss...Please keep several steps back..." Jonathan nodded, waving a cross and stake held in separate hands, at her...

"Will you and your friends come for me, one day?..." she eyed him...A sad look briefly on her face... "No one has, you know..." she smiled wanly... "In all the years since I died..."

Jonathan...Henry hissed, shaking his head...The cover now pried loose...

"I think you'd best start down, Miss..." Jonathan waved his stake... Darla giving a somewhat sour frown at the open hole, then him...

"Surely, sir...As a gentleman..." she began...

"Please, Miss...You first...Now..." he stared back...Foxcroft and Fowler pulling their stakes as well...

"Hardly the sort of behavior I'd've of expected from gentlemen in my human days..." she sighed, shaking her head...

The sub-basement of the Savoy...Within the recent lair of the Angelus pride...

"Cicely!..." Farris racing up, called to her as she frantically strode among the crates which had formed the artificial 'cavern' the pride had called home for the past two weeks...She gave him a brief, wild stare and resumed her prowl...Trying to focus and reach out, he realized...Skills she had acquired under his patient tutelage...

"Cicely, girl...You must stop..." he tried to put a restraining hand out to her, she stared a second, a harsh look in her face...

"Leave me...Or help me, Simon...But do not try to stop me..." she told him grimly...And resumed her efforts...

"Do you sense anything?..." She shook her head..."No...But I can't focus...I..."

"My dear...I am..." She waved a hand... "Not now...I've no time for that now..."

"Help me...Or go...Please..." she stared at him... "I can bury and mourn my child later...After I find him...And see Drusilla's smoldering ashes..."

"She wouldn't have remained here..." he eyed her... "She must have taken him outside, or into the tunnels below these buildings through someway...

Yes...she nodded...Touching one of the crates...Feeling the wood for some trace of her essence...Of his...She looked down at the floor...

"They passed this way..." she looked at her Watcher... He nodded gravely... "You have sensed her...?"

"Not really..." she gave the slightest smile...Picking up a gold ring...

"He's still alive...Left this for me...He knew I would come for him..." she passed the ring...

"Eternity is ours...Cicely..." Farris read...

"Unless of course he simply dropped it...He does have a habit of misplacing it..." she smiled again, a bit more warmly...

"They left the building from here, somehow...I..." her eyes fell on several crates...No dust on the floor around them whereas others nearby were surrounded by dust...She tore at them...A door behind, ajar...But only a closet of some...Farris eyeing her from behind as she peered in...

And tore at the faintly moving poster covering the exit...

"Of course, sir...You understand..." Angelus paused for a moment, turning back to his captors as the merry little band...Rathskeller, Miss Rosenberg, a hastily summoned Council operative, a rather insistent upon coming Sir Arthur Sullivan, a somewhat bemused but equally willing to assist D'Oyly Carte...And the mighty Angelus himself...Made their way down towards the sub-basement lair and the same passageway Cicely and Farris were currently entering...

"I am only agreeing to this for the sake of putting my poor Drusilla at rest...Even one so lost and tormented as I can desire to make amends..."

"Indeed..." Rathskeller replied drily... "Your feeling does you credit, vampire...And lives up to your fabled reputation...Move on now, please or I will take great comfort in giving you rest yourself..."

Hmmn...I see your point...the vampire noted the five stakes pointed his way...And continued on down the stairs...Pondering another tactic...

Here, he opened the sub-basement door...Politely offering the open door...

"After you..." Rathskeller sternly frowned...

"Of course, sir..." Angelus nodded, and entered, the others following...Just down back behind those crates...he pointed... "An entry to the local network of tunnels around the buildings here..."

"Show us...Move on..." "Yes, certainly, sir..." He hastened across the floor...The others just behind...

Pausing by the crates just pulled aside... "The closet..." , he pointed..."In back, behind the poster..." He paused again, allowing Sir Arthur and Carte, lagging a bit, to catch up to the rest...

"Is that our way...?" Sir Arthur eyed the torn poster... "It appears so, Sir Arthur..." Rathskeller nodded... "But we three can handle this, gentlemen..." Carte and Sullivan eyeing Willow now who nodded happily as well...Situation well in...

Well...She looked at Angelus, waiting patiently...Maybe a little more back-up couldn't hurt...

"Mr. Chairman...?...I should point out...A creature of my abilities and experience could be quite a valuable asset to your organization..."

What?...Now he wants a job?...Willow stared...

Drusilla...

PG-13

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page . , or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

Part XXXIV...

In my day...Darla grimaced as she dodged several rats leaping about in panic from her scent...Pausing to wait for her human companions to catch up...Gentlemen would never allow even a vampiral lady to be put to such unpleasantness...Oh, they might beat her silly, take her meager earnings, and leave her infected and rotting away with syphilis...But let her face this sort of thing?...She eyed the dank sewer tunnel...Never...

Then again...Those lodgings my last lover dumped me in when he left me...Not so very different...I'd even say this thing was at least more spacious...

Hmmn...Now just where did my dear little mesmerizing bitch of a 'granddaughter' set up her little love nest?...Ah, right...The scent of perfumed candles...

The candles I and my aching back spent a week purloining and setting up according to our own lil' Ophelia's dictates...

"This way, gentlemen..." she politely pointed to the left...Jonathan stumbling into view, a stake with rags wrapped round, burning as an improvised torch, in one hand, cross in the other...Andrew and Henry close on his heels, each with stake and cross out...

"In sleep you sang to me...In dreams you came...

Your voice has called to me, it speaks my name...And in this labyrinth where love is blind...

The phantom prince she promised us is you...You're in my mind..."

Dru sang softly as she pulled William along...

"Nice tune, Miss..." he noted...Groaning a bit as he scraped a rock...Sorry, Dru winced..."Are you all right, sir?..." Fine, Miss...She set him down...Eyeing him carefully as he struggled to sit up...A moment, sir...

"Let your eyes adjust to the light..."

He peered out...Into what he could gradually see was a huge cavern...Lit rather faintly apart from their immediate corner, by scattered candles and torches...

"This...As far as your eye can see...Is our new world...A world suited for a poet...With a dark, passionate heart to him..." she smiled to him... "An angry, yearning heart..."

"You'll dream your great dreams here, sir...Here in our new world..."

"I found this place...The castle I sensed for weeks...Our new home, William...Where we can dwell, together forever, forever dreaming...Never alone and lost again..."

"Dreaming of the past..." she murmured as he stared at her..."The lost past..." she came to herself and shook a bit...Eyeing him again...

"Can't you see that I love you, William, sir?...In ways your Slayer never could...She'll never be free to love, Slayers can't be...In the end she will abandon you..."

"The post of Mrs. Walthrop is taken, lass...And I am content as to the depth and sincerity of my wife's love..."

"Are you...?" she eyed him coolly... "She was ready to drive you off the other night, the night after your wedding...When I would have taken you...You may amuse her for now, but in fact...You're an encumbrance to her...And always will be..."

"She was afraid...If anything it only confirms how much she loves me...But I am sorry for you, Miss Drusilla..."

Sorry?...Sorry for me?...she eyed him coldly...But within a voice crying out...Pleading...For help...

"Whether you feel you can love me...Or not..." she frowned... "You are mine...And your demon will love me..."

"I beg to differ...I rather think having known my Cicely in whatever way he may...That he'll be inclined my way...But be a bit harsher in his response to you..." he tried to rise again... "Don't be a fool, Drusilla...You'll be destroyed for nothing if you don't let me go and leave while you can..."

"Haven't they?...Your Council friends and your Slayer...Told you, Mr. Walthrop?...I am insane as well as a monster..." she stared at him... "Appeals to reason aren't all that likely to work with me..."

"But you are a calming influence on me..." she smiled again...Warmth re-entering her voice...

"Why?..." he suddenly asked...

"Sir?..."

"Why me?...What am I to you that you should risk so much, Miss Drusilla?..."

"You were promised to me, sir...By my..." she grinned... "Godmother...You might say...We are meant to be together...My visions tell me so...They never lie, however clouded they may be..."

"I've told you...Whoever's promised me to you has deceived you..." No...she shook her head... "For you see, you are here...Just as she told me...And as I saw...To help me...And ease my..." she paused...Confused a moment...

"I want to help you, Drusilla...But not the way you're suggesting...Let me speak to my wife, the Council...They may be able to..."

"I am dead, Mr. Walthrop...To 'help' me as you're suggesting would be to send me to Hell...Forever...I decline your generous offer, thank you sir..." she bowed slightly...

"Your soul might think differ..." "My Sister is a fool!"...she shrieked at him... "She hides in Limbo weeping and praying forever to a God who abandoned her ages ago!...I will not give my place here up to the likes of her!..."

"But, if she behaves herself..." she suddenly calmed as quickly as she'd raged... "I will continue to let her help me...And your soul and she can find each other afterwards between the dimensions if you choose...I am not ungenerous to those who help me, sir..."

"And she is not so innocent as you might suppose...She wanted you too...And she is trapped wherever she is by her own guilt and shame..."

"Shame?...For what, Miss...Surely your soul was an innocent, she wasn't responsible for your crimes..."

"In cooperating with me..." she smiled at him, clearly preferring to ignore his last words... "You help her...Poor sufferer that she is..."

"Surely a kindly gentleman like you can see some good in that..."

This way...It has to be this way...Cicely felt along the walls of the sewer tunnel, 'Dickens' firmly clenched in right hand, the same hand on the fourth finger of which she'd placed Will's wedding band...She closed her eyes, concentrating...Yes...This way...

"Cicely!..." Farris was coming up from behind... "Quiet, Simon!..." she hissed back... "We're near...He's not far now..." He moved up to where she stood in the dim light...

"And Drusilla?..." he whispered... "Can you sense her?..." Not yet...she shook her head... "Please...Just let me concentrate..."

Drusilla to the bound William, enticing...

("Music of the Night..." from "The Phantom of the Opera...")

Play

"Night-time sharpens, heightens each sensation...

Darkness stirs and wakes imagination...

Silently the senses abandon their defenses...

Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendour...

Grasp it, sense it - tremulous and tender...

Turn your face away

from the garish light of day,

turn your thoughts away from

cold, unfeeling light -

and listen to the music of the night...

Close your eyes and

surrender to your darkest dreams!

Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before!

Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar!

And you'll live

as you've never lived before...

Softly, deftly,

music shall surround you...

Feel it, hear it, closing in around you...

Open up your mind,

let your fantasies unwind,

in this darkness which you know

you cannot fight -

the darkness of the music

of the night...

Let your mind start a journey

through a strange, new world!

Leave all thoughts

of the world you knew before!

Let your soul take you where you long to be!

Only then can you belong to me...

Floating, falling, sweet intoxication!

Touch me, trust me,

savour each sensation!

Let the dream begin,

let your darker side give in

You alone can make my song take flight -

help me make the music of the night..."

(Not bad, one must admit...William sighed to himself...She does have talent...Like that Rossetti woman...And Eliot, the novelist...I really must revise my former opinion of female poets and literary types...)

She opened the eyes she'd closed in ecstasy during the song...Her face rapt..."Oh, sir..." she looked at him... "Can't you see..." she began...And stopped suddenly...

Hmmn...Dru frowned... Someone's coming she noted to Walthrop...From there...she pointed...And there...Another point...And there...Hmmn...Really thought the new lair would be secure...Oh!...Grandmother?...Father?...Humans with them, she sensed vaguely...

Leading humans to poor ole Dru?...And too many unless the hunt had gone exceptionally well and they were considering the benefits of keeping fresh meat stored at hand...

Not quite that ole family spirit...

Oh, well...Hmmn...And nearest of all...

The Slayer herself...And from the waves of fury and rage Dru was feeling...Clearly somewhat physically recovered from her recent sad event...

"Perhaps, sir...We should take our leave of this place for the moment...Else we seem about to be deluged with unwanted guests..."

"Cicely's coming for me...Leave me Drusilla, go while you can..." he told her...Looking over her face carefully...Yes...Judging by that anxious face and voice...She is coming...he thought with relief...But noted Dru's steadying of herself...A resumption of her former calm, as if she'd drawn on inner reserves of strength...

"That's very kind of you to be concerned for me, sir...But I think I will manage...Please come along now...Please..." she eyed him... "I don't wish to take you too soon or involuntarily...But if I must...It will not take much more of your blood to finish you..."

In the tunnel from the Savoy leading to Drusilla's cavern, the noble Angelus continued to modestly point out his excellent qualifications for work with the Council of Watchers...No doubt the manly remnants of his Humanity pushing him to seek to benefit his (former) fellow man even in the depths of his cursed existence...

(Willie eyed Vladimir...Vladimir, Willie...)

Sir Arthur Sullivan and D'Oyly Carte having insisted on accompanying the resolute Watcher Chairman, Arthur Rathskeller and his partner, Miss Willow Rosenberg, vampire hunter, and their Observer assistant...The group was nearing the place where Drusilla's attempts to win William's voluntary acquiescence in joining her in her dark existence had come to an abrupt, if temporary halt in part due to their approach...

As was the second group whose like approach had been a second cause of Dru's withdrawal, led currently by the vampiress Darla, comprising also Cicely's devoted cousin Henry Foxcroft, and her ex-would-be-suitors Jonathan Levinson and Andrew Fowler...

But it was the group nearest the chamber, that of Cicely the Vampire Slayer and her Watcher, Simon Farris, which served as the primary cause of Dru's anxiety, with rather good reason...

Shaking a gently restraining Farris off, the Slayer burst into the chamber... "Drusilla!..." She whirled round, 'Dickens' in hand... Dru's scent almost overpowering to one honed in the appropriate tracking skills...

Nothing...Followed by...A loud crash as Darla ripped off a grill barring entry from her tunnel...Not a difficult task, considering she and Dru had removed it and replaced it unsecured in the course of their renovations during the previous week...

"You?..." Cicely looked at the blonde vampiress... "Darla!..." Farris called out...Cicely bracing for a quick charge...

"Wait, Slayer!..." Darla put up a hand... "I..." Cicely at her throat in a moment, knocking her back...

"Where is Drusilla, vampiress?...TELL ME !..." "Help!..Gentlemen, please!...Slayer, I think there's been a misunder..."

"Cicely!..." Jonathan, emerging from the tunnel into the chamber through the same grill, cried out to her... "Don't kill it yet!.."

Jonathan?...she stared... "Keep back!..."

It?...Yet?...Darla fumed a bit...After all I've done for these ungrateful...Whoops...She ducked as Cicely came up on her where she lay on the ground...

"Don't kill me, Slayer...I can help you find..." "Cicely, wait!..."

"Hello, Miss Addams...Er Mrs. Walthrop..." Andrew called cheerily as he and Henry entered as well... "How goes the..." he caught sight of Cicely raging over Darla's prostate form...

"Cicely!..." Henry called...

But for Mrs. Walthrop the only words she'd heard... "I can help you find..." had acted to spare Darla's existence...For the moment...She quieted and pulled 'Dickens' back

"Where...?" she eyed the vampiress coldly, motioning for her to rise...

"Darla?..." Angelus called, blinking in shock as he entered the chamber with his group at his heels...

Her harsh, angry, somewhat frightened gaze making him aware at once that Dru's hold had been broken...

Damn...So much for my week in Paradise...

Great...she thought, eyeing him back... As she rose slowly under Cicely's furious, cold glare...'Dickens' sharp point to her delicate throat...

Reunited with my mate...What joy...

Drusilla...

PG-13...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page . , or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

Part XXXV...

Transylvania...Midnight...

"Are we to begin now, Doctor?..." Old Dracula looked at his nemesis...and friend, Abraham Van Helsing...Who steadied a large metal urn on the altar which had been set up before them...

"We are, Count...Please step forward and extend your right arm..."

A slight thin smile appeared over Dracula's features as he complied... "At last...I am the one giving blood..." As Dr. Van Helsing opened a vein in his arm and forced drops of blood into the metal urn...

Which he mixed with the dust within...

"Doctor?...Do you think?..." Dracula eyed the urn... "I realize the remains of my Elisabete may have been disturbed across the centuries, even where I left them secure..."

"If even a small trace of her ashes remain here, Count..." Van Helsing cast a sympathetic eye on his greatest enemy, greatest friend... "Her soul will hear us..."

"I am content...Even if we fail...It will merely confirm her sweet soul has been freed..." Dracula sighed...

And I will keep my word to you, my friend...And embrace my peace at last...Once I know my Elisabete no longer roams this world in torment...

One of the younger members of the Van Helsing team, a blonde Dutch youth of twenty turns to a companion...Nudging as he whispers...Who'd of thought the mighty Dracula, a fool for love?...Not mention ole Abraham himself...Just on the strength of Dracula's pleaded tale...

"Yes..." Dracula turns to eye the young man who blinks at being heard across the distance... "Fools for love, my young friend...It is, after all, as even we two old...Men...can attest..." he smiled at Van Helsing now binding his arm...

"The strongest, greatest force in all existences..."

"And the finest cause to die for...Whether for one love...Or love of all Humanity..."

(Beautiful...Vladimir stared at Angelus...Who gave him a dignified nod...

But how the hell would he have heard what great-granddad said at the ceremony?...)

London...Drusilla's cavern and would-be love nest...Midnight...

"We must hurry!...There's not a moment to lose!..." All the humans...Henry, Rathskeller, his Observer, Farris, Cicely, Jonathan, Andrew, Ms. Rosenberg, Carte, and Sir Arthur Sullivan staring at the noble Angelus who'd given the cry...Darla staring as well...

Ummn...Just wanted to demonstrate my sincere desire to assist...he noted...Cicely frowning as she waved her dear "Dickens" at him...Sharpened by Will himself to a fine hone the previous evening...

"Angelus...And you..." "Darla, Slayer?...The famous Darla?..." Darla glared slightly...Goddamn Queen of this goddamn pride, remember?...she fumed within...

"Right...Get moving and lead us to Drusilla and my husband...If we reach them before she can..."Cicely paused... "The only hope for you two is that we can reach her while my husband is alive...Go!..."

Absolutely, Angelus nodded...Perhaps a bit hurt that his sincere enthusiasm for the hunt had gone unrecognized...After you, my love...he bowed to Darla who for the sake of family pride avoided a snarl in the presence of strangers and proceeded...

"What the hell were you doing just now?..." she hissed back to him as the humans followed them, Cicely keeping the others well back...

"What can I say?...I was caught up in the moment..." Angelus shrugged...

The sub-basement of the Savoy theater...Just past midnight...

Drusilla, having deposited a well-trussed and somewhat blood-drained William for a moment in a safe, hidden place near the pride's "emergency exit", moved cautiously into the main area...Still quite a few workers about...She nervously paused, considering...Probing back with her senses into the tunnel...Yes, the humans on their way...

What to do?...This had been too soon, just as her visions of her eventual triumph had suggested...He was not ready...If she was to have all of him...Forever...But now, if she took him...His words to her had been true, she knew...After what had happened even his demon, knowing as poor William did not yet, about the baby...Would hate her...Reject her...

Demons and their offspring...Very possessive...Still she had managed to stake a claim in him, secure her hold...If she had to wait a bit longer, at least now she could make use of that...

And if she hesitated much longer, if it was not too late already...The Slayer would put an end to her efforts permanently...But with all the humans still about, the rehearsal having dragged on in part due to her interruptions...Escaping the place, even if she abandoned Walthrop, would be no easy matter...

Sister...She appealed within...Sister, what can we do?...I...

Her eyes rolled suddenly as visions flamed through her mind...Ancient scenes, like portraits in a gallery...Scenes of joy, sorrow...Terror...And at the center, a man...Courageous, passionate, loving beyond the grave, and beyond all bounds she knew instinctively...

The same love she had sensed in Walthrop...Capable of transcending the grave...The quality that had been pulling her to the little poet ever since her first vision of the Prince who would come to her...

And damned attractive, whoever he was, she noted...Soul and demon in full agreement...

"My love...my love..." his voice called to her...She reached out...Into the room...Tears in her eyes...Several workers pausing to look at the strange new girl...Must be exhausted by the late schedule tonight, one kindly older woman noted to a mate...

Elisabete...The voice called...Elisabete, hear me...

She gave a faint cry...A gasp from the soul...The vision faded and she collapsed...

"Oh, dear...Oh, dear...Oh, dear..." the kindly worker, a large middle-aged seamstress, came over..."The poor thing's gone and fainted dead away...They're keeping us much too long on this one..." she noted to a fellow worker... "Get her over to the cot at the rear of the room..." she called to two others...

"Much much too long...Mr. Gilbert's quite impossible at times...No consideration at all..." she shook her head...

The Savoy theater...Ground floor...Two am...

"Truly a pity..." the noble Angelus gave vent to his Unmanly, generous sympathy for the bereft young Slayer now sitting for a moment at the others' insistence...There having been no sign or trace of Drusilla or William since their learning of Dru's collapse, followed by her cautious fleeing of the building on awakening shortly afterwards...

Darla frowning...Lummox...Stop performing and start figuring a way out of this...But maintaining her guard as did the humans surrounding her and her mate...Heavily armed humans...Rathskeller having summoned reinforcements who had arrived just as they had returned to the subbasement...

"Mr. Chairman..." Angelus turned to Rathskeller... "You will bear in mind that my mate and I have kept our word to the letter?...We have led you faithfully and would be prepared to continue the chase, should you require, if we can uncover our companion's scent...I hope our agreement still stands..."

"What 'agreement', vampire?..." Rathskeller eyed him coldly...Ummn...Angelus blinked...A bit startled...

Sir?...I clearly recall that we made a pact...he began...Rathskeller waving him off...Darla tensing, looking round the room...Ummn...Sirs?...She hopefully eyed Jonathan, then Henry...

"Take them to the Council holding facilities..." The Chairman turned to his men... Phew...Angelus thought...

Ummn...In terms of his shock at a gentleman potentially violating his pledged word, of course...

(Of course, Vladimir chuckled...Winking at Willie...)

"Wait!..." Cicely rose...A bit unsteadily...Henry, Jonathan, and Andrew rushing to her aid...Farris watching carefully...

"I want you to let them go, Mr. Rathskeller..." she looked at the Chairman...

What you say?...Willow, standing next to Arthur, stared at her...

"Drusilla will seek them out..." Cicely noted firmly... "Let them go...I'll maintain surveillance on them..."

Go?...Go where?...Darla thought...You people having just destroyed our latest home...

Still, a chance...She eyed Angelus...Give it your best performance, you ham...

"I think that's an excellent idea, Slayer...Drusilla is sure to try and seek us out..." he nodded... "And of course we will alert you at once..."

"Naturally providing you acknowledge our previous agreement...Especially the part about sparing us?..."

Ummn...He stared at the Slayer's hideous face...So terrifying in its repressed rage...

But rather attractive...Pity she's so focused on that foolish little man...

"That is not possible..." Rathskeller began... "Yes, it is possible..." Cicely replied curtly... "It will be done...Either by your consent...Or without it..." she stood, facing him...

"And these two, on pain of destruction, will refrain from any attacks on innocents...A law I will enforce..."

"One has to live Slayer..." Angelus cut in... "Make do with animals, or die now...I will then repeat the offer to your mate..."

Who will accept...With thanks...And gratitude...Darla thought...If it's really post-Angelus...

Drusilla...

PG-13...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page . , or direct to story at

...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

Part XXXVI...

A fuming Darla continued to mutter under her breath as she and Angelus hurried down the London streets, searching as best they could for a secure, deserted shelter for the coming day...

Darling...Angelus tried... "Go to hell...At that...Girl's..." she hastily corrected, realizing Cicely must be hot on their trail... "...hands...You miserable bastard...Leaving me in Dru's grip all week..."

"There was nothing I knew of to break Dru's hold on you...She would've taken me too and where would we all have been then?...After all, we did just escape certain death at the Slayer's hands...Due to my skills at negotiation..." Angelus noted...

She halted and stared at him...Then shook her head...What's the point of trying to penetrate that ego?...

"Right...And now she's following our every move...And we're forced to live like humans, feeding on..." she grimaced as she lifted a bleeding cat to her mouth... "It's disgusting...If I can ever get my hands on that..."

Dear?...Slayer on our tail?...Not one in a forgiving mood towards our kind at the best of times...Angelus hissed quietly...

"Drusilla...I was going to say Drusilla..." Darla shrugged... "Though...If I could..." she raised her voice... "... 'help' that poor, kind Slayer...I would..."

To an early grave...she thought...But that'll come, regardless...As it does for them all...

At the Antiquarian Hall, seat of the Watchers' Council, Rathskeller eyed his rather bleary-eyed early morning breakfast companion... "Miss Rosenberg?..." Hmmn?... Willow blinked...

"I think it would be well for us both to get some rest this morning...Our people are out and keeping close after the Slayer and her decoys...And Darla, Angelus, and Drusilla herself must now be in hiding for the day...There's little more we can do and no reason for us to wear ourselves down futilely..."

"Oh..." she waved...Indefatigable scion of the Van Helsing-Rosenberg clan that she was... "I'm fine...Should probably try and get a little research done..." Hmmn...Sorry...She eyed the glass of juice she'd just knocked over...Attempting to suppress a yawn...

"Please my dear...Willow..." he hesitated over that hurdle but jumped... "It would make me feel better..." he eyed her lovely, exhausted face gently...

Ummn?...she stared at his sweet, though indomitable...And rather handsome face across the table...Really?...

He does look weary...she noted...And everything on his shoulders, sweet guy...Though bearing the past days' strain well...And although it only adds to his charm and worldliness, he isn't young...

"Indeed..." he nodded...Smiling...

Though certainly not...Too old...Ummn...she blinked...Hmmn...

Been hanging round that ridiculously romantic Slayer a mite too long I'd say...Still, he should get to bed...Wouldn't want to wear the Chairman...My client out...

Wonder what he wears to...Damnit, Rosenberg...Mind on business...What would Gramps say?...

"Well...Arthur...Ummn...If it would make you feel better...And if you'll get some rest too..."

Hmmn...After a lecture on the need to be ever vigilant against Evil, Gramps would probably start on about wanting grandchildren to bounce on his knee...Damn...I wonder if he had any ideas along these lines when he passed this on to me, knowing Arthur as well as he does...she thought...You sly old fox...A slight frown...

Thanks, Gramps...Momentary beam immediately fading...

Yes...Rathskeller nodded, turning serious... "I will need it myself...For by tonight...Events may force me to make some hard decisions..." he eyed her coolly...

Arthur?...

"Willow...I've told you I cannot allow the matter of the Slayer to drift indefinitely...And while Mrs. Walthrop is clearly focused on the task of destroying Drusilla...When that is done..."

"I see..." a small voice...

"I wish there were some other way, any other way...But if Mr. Walthrop lives...She will go from us...And she may leave us, if only to pursue him, if he is lost..."

"And you must have..."

"Humanity must, Willow...Millions of lives and the future of human civilization rest on the Slayer's performance of her Duty..."

"I understand..." her voice was cold... "So...Will we be assassinating Walthrop or Cicely?...Or both?..."

"Cicely is our greatest Slayer..." Rathskeller answered impassively... "Though, if she learnt that Walthrop had died at our hands...I've little doubt she'd take a fearful vengeance on us and more importantly, the potential Slayer line...Either as human, or perhaps...With her transformed husband..."

Willow blinked at him... "You don't really think...?"

"She wouldn't be the first Slayer to join a transformed lover, Willow..." Rathskeller was solemn... "Love is a mighty force but it can do as much damage as good under the wrong circumstances..."

"What are you going to do, Arthur?..." she hesitated to look at him...

"My duty, Willow..." he sighed... "Whatever that turns out to be..."

The Savoy, early morning...

After taking her sincerely grateful leave of the kind people who'd tended her in her indisposition, Drusilla had decided it were best to make use of their assumption that she was simply another young worker brought in for the rehearsal and had kept industriously busy with the costumers till the humans had begun leaving, thus dodging the several Observers Rathskeller, with D'Oyly Carte's willing agreement, had left on duty to watch over the pride's former lair on the chance of her return there...

The departure of the night staff by about two in the morning had left her at some uncertainty, especially given her confusion over the visions she'd experienced earlier, but having slipped upstairs, she'd found several empty offices to conceal herself in...At least until the arrival of morning staff...Which arrival, with the dawn now past, she realized, was likely to be soon...If the humans guarding the old lair in the subbasement did not decide to search the building one last time before...

Having rejected the notion of a pre-emptive strike out of hand...Far too likely to merely advertize her presence to the Slayer while leaving her still trapped in the place...She sought to calm herself and consider her options...Turning to the one other she could for assistance...

But her 'sister' seemed even more preoccupied and confused than the demon itself...The visions of the night before having terribly upset and unsettled her...So that Dru found herself in the odd position of trying to comfort and steady her other self...

But the image of the man in her vision, too unclear to identify, yet somehow...So familiar...Who?...She queried herself, soul included...Someone from the past?...But he wasn't like anyone she could remember from the human days...Not even human Daddy had been so tall and commanding...Unless perhaps...Papa's spirit?...Calling to her...No...He'd called her...What?...She concentrated...

Elisa...

A sudden slam of doors below startled her out of her reverie...The day staff?...Or the Observers below, searching?...Or, no...She sighed, a bit relieved...Not the Slayer...

She wasn't quite ready to meet the Slayer again...Not yet, at least not under conditions where their final battle could not be avoided...Not before Mr. Walthrop, her Prince, was ready to accept his future...And her love...

No, this was not the place for their inevitable duel to the death...It would come, but in a place far from here...A forbidding, lost, indeed even for her, terrifying, place she...And her trapped soul...Could see in their mind's eye...

And her Prince must be made ready and willing to accept her...

For her visions were quite clear on the subject...When she and the Slayer at last met in battle, only one would survive...

Drusilla...

Drusilla...

PG-13...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page . , or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

Part XXXVII...

Transylvania...Morning...

Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, legendary vampire hunter to those in the know, eyed one of the younger members of his team across their inn breakfast table with a slight twinkle in his eye...

The young man having nervously put the question to the Great Man that most of the team had been wanted to ask since the abrupt end of their activities the night before...

"Sir...Are you sure it was wise?...Allowing Dracula to defer his destruction until this latest matter is settled?..."

"My boy...Don't you believe in the power of Love?...A young fellow like you should not be so cynical and worldly so soon..." A more serious tone... "We have confirmed, with the help of our religious aids...And Father Comensu..." a quick nod to the Orthodox priest beside him at table... "That Lord Dracula has, with the help of his Roma followers, driven back his demon and freed his tormented soul, despite retaining his vampiral body...We can, therefore, put some faith in his word...And he was willing to allow his destruction last night...It was left in my hands to decide his fate..."

"And learning, as we did, that his poor wife's soul is trapped, somewhere on Earth, probably in the England where he first sensed her presence...Chained to one that seems likely to be as hideous a creature as his own demon and facing the same threat of damnation should she merge completely with that monster...How can we refuse to attempt to assist him in her salvation?..."

"But if it all has been a deception?..." the young man, a tall blonde Dutch youth asked, in faltering voice...Fine potential lad for my granddaughter, if things don't work out as I hope between her and good ole Arthur Rathskeller, Van Helsing thought, giving the boy a carefully appraising look...

After all, while dear Arthur would be my preferred choice for her, given his excellent character, noble soul, intellect, worldly success, and vast experience...He is a bit old for her...And I want healthy great-grandchildren before I pass on...This young fellow seems quite capable in that department at least...

"A rather needlessly elaborate and lengthy one, my boy, as the Count could have killed me and later the rest of you the first night we confronted each other. If it turns out a deception...And I must point out that he allowed the destruction of all those he once held as dearly as he was capable of when he could have fought us with some chance of success...I will bear the responsibility...And the shame of being a gullible old fool..." the doctor grinned...

"But..." another, older and therefore cautiously waiting for the younger member to test the waters, eyed their leader... "If we do not know where the female Dracula is or what she looks like...Anything about her outside the tales of her human past Dracula has told us..."

"And the Count Dracule has been mistaken...He misidentified Mrs. Harker after all..."

"Lord Dracula is convinced that Mrs. Harker is a descendant of his wife's mortal form...He thought her wife's soul resided in her body...That her poor soul might have suffered a fate like his own..." a sad pause... "Was something even given his hideous past he'd not been able to conceive of...A fate and punishment which even I find hard to reconcile with my faith in a merciful God..." He was silent again a moment as all the team members looked at each other...

"Yet..." Father Comensu spoke up... "Almighty God has provided salvation for both...In our efforts..." "Yes..." Van Helsing nodded... "The one thing that has given the Count faith that God may have taken pity on him...And the reason we...Gentlemen..." he looked about the table... "Must succeed..."

"Dracula is using all his abilities to summon her to us..." he noted solemnly... "I believe, with the additional help we can give him in that regard, we can compel her to come to us...And bring this poor, wrongly condemned soul to peace..."

"And in addition to Dracula's ability to sense her soul, we have a living portrait of the Countess' current form...At least to some extent she must resemble her ancestor..."

"But was She not condemned as He was?...By her own choice...?" a third man, a hale and hearty fellow in his thirties, a medical student of the great physician who'd found himself irresistibly drawn into his mentor's "side career"...

The doctor looked to the priest who was pensive...But gave a slight shake of his dignified head, accentuated by long beard and formal headdress...

"It's our belief...The good Father's here and mine...That that is not the case...Her soul found rebirth at some point, but her grim and horrible fate, was not of her making or deserving..."

"The Lord of the Dracule embraced his curse...But his wife did not, we are convinced of that...Her remains, though mostly ashes, were those of a normal human...She must have been reborn human..."

"And therefore, it is our duty, gentlemen...As well as our pledge to Lord Dracula...To end this terrible cycle of pain and suffering...We must await the Lady Elisabete's coming, in whatever tormented form she is now trapped in...And do what we can to assist Dracula to free her..."

"After that, rest assured...Lord Dracula will gladly embrace peace...Else..." he paused solemnly...

"You gentlemen will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of showing me in the wrong..."

London...The Savoy Theater...Early morning...

A blood-loss weakened, heavily trussed up with rope and wire filched from the theater basement, William tried to make out details of the place...Small room or closet from what he'd managed to feel as he'd struggled to free himself...Drusilla had hurriedly shoved him into while fleeing Cicely and the others earlier...

He tried shifting his position while working at his bonds...As well as to remove the cloth in his mouth, secured by a second cloth tied round his head...Nothing...Too narrow a space to allow him even to fall over and he was as yet far too weak to make any progress...

Well, what to do?...He thought a moment...Perhaps, if he could strike his shoes against what seemed either a wall or door of the place...Even if he couldn't hope to kick hard enough to open a door, the noise might attract attention...He began trying to get his feet to flex enough...

The brief thought of what Drusilla had said the night before again crossed his mind...Sorry to have told me this way...?

Almost certainly to do with their hopes regarding Cics' condition...But she'd sounded...No...Not the time to think such thoughts...After all, the creature, poor tormented maniac that she was, was demented...She might simply resent the whole idea of Cicely bearing...And they'd only had good hopes, nothing definite...Unless the doctor Cicely had seen that morning back at home had told her something...

No, not the same to think such thoughts...Just pray Cicely had the good sense to take care and hope for the best...For now, the focus had to be on survival...Something a boy from the wastelands of nineteenth century English poverty was well suited to deal with, he told himself...

It was not time to die, not just yet...Whatever insane ravings Drusilla chose to mutter, he was not ready to lose all he'd just won with so much labor and striving...

But oh God, if it were true...My poor Cicely...My poor, poor love...God, if you exist, protect her...And my child...

He returned to the task at hand and continued trying to get his foot closer to the nearest wall...Even a little noise might be enough to raise attention...

A cloudy morning had given Dru her chance to make her way out of the theater, leaving by way of a leap from the roof to the adjoining building...Though a hard thing to have to leave Walthrop behind, he was as secure as she could make him in his bonds and it would be some time before he recovered from her blood-draining...And even if he did, he'd not be able to break from her hideaway or attract attention to himself...At least she struggled to make herself believe that...There being no choice now, really...Survival had to come first...

A practical notion she was sensible of being indebted to her 'sister', the trapped soul, for...Whatever moans the Bad One might care to make about her counterpart's doings, she was clearly not quite ready to do the 'noble' thing and lead her to destruction...Not yet, anyway...

And equally clearly was as puzzled and troubled as her demon by the vision of last night...

She moved cautiously down the stairs from the roof access, having quietly smashed the locked door back...Always a chance the Watchers and Slayer might have thought to guard the buildings about in the area as well...She paused at the level of the first floor down from the roof, sensing humans further down and checking to confirm the cloudy sky, peered carefully out the large window which let light into the stairwell...Hmmn...A large funeral procession in the street...Coming to what was no doubt a brief halt...Hearse just below her now...

Well, as her soul would once have said...God's gifts should be accepted when offered...And Watchers or no on the floors below, she had to get away from the theater area...At least for now...Until the Slayer had given up any hope of finding her here and she could risk coming back for Walthrop...She forced the window open, and tensing, jumped...Aiming for a spot near the hearse but not in sight of the members of the procession...And with no signs of anything potentially lethally wooden to meet her on impact...

I do hope that coffin will be big enough...she thought as she fell...Be awful to have to scrunch to fit...

One floor below, the diligent Simon Farris, his offers to accompany Cicely in her surveillance of the noble Angelus and his mate, politely but firmly rejected, maintained his post, with his own trusted staff...Having been entrusted by Chairman Rathskeller with the task of supervising those doing all possible to keep the Savoy and surroundings under watch in case Dru remained hidden or returned there...

A task he'd been quite willing to accept after Cicely had set out...And Halfreck assured him Dru was indeed still in the Savoy and seeking a safe exit...

So that it was not entirely due to Dru's new-honed survival skills that she was able to make her leap for freedom undetected...Undetected by all but Farris and Halfreck watching with considerable interest from the window of their floor...

The offices of Sir Richard Addams, central London...Early morning...

On the one hand...Leaning back in his chair, Sir Richard frowned coldly at a rather nervously servile Smike and a reasonably uncaring, smirking Squears...Who'd awaited his arrival on the office doorstep with rather mixed news...

Two fools who had failed miserably in their assignment to bring his new son-in-law to him for a, of necessity, brief interview last night...

On the other hand...

Said troublesome new son-in-law had apparently gotten himself lost, if these two feeble-brained dolts had got the stories they'd picked up, hanging around the Savoy main and workers' entrances, correct...

But why would Walthrop have suddenly chosen to remove his problematic self from sight?...

Realized dear father-in-law meant what he'd threatened?...Panicked and fled, perhaps hearing rumors of the firm and decisive ways Sir Richard liked to employ in dealing with 'trouble'?...

Or maybe Fate and the Almighty had chosen to kindly intervene and remove a problem for him...

But Cicely...Ill, was it, the two had said?...He eyed the squirming Smike...Getting a bit greasy now with fear...

"You said my daughter was ill last night?...A doctor summoned?..."

Uhhh... "Well, Sir Richard..." Warren "Smike" Smithe squirmed a bit more...

"We didn't get much as to details..."

No, and best not to mention those details we did get, he thought...

"Girl who spoke to Smike on the steps said she'd lost one..." Squears cut in, grinning at his partner who fumed back...Idiot!...

"Lost...One...?" Sir Richard stared... "Lost...?"

"But she said our Cics was well enough..." even Squears a tad less relaxed at Addams' hard, icy stare... "And we both seed her come out, with Mr. Sullivan and some toffs later...Eh, Smike?..."

"The girl was an idiot, Sir Richard..." Smike anxiously cut in... "We don't know what she meant...Maybe it was Walthrop she was talkin' about..."

"Squears!..." Sir Richard turned to him, ignoring Smike's desperate attempt to tone things down... "What else?..."

"Some toffs...Comin' out...Said a lady'd lost her baby on the stairs...Ummn...Smike, you heard 'em..."

"More idiots, Sir Richard...And they never mentioned Cicely by name..."

"A baby?...She lost..." Sir Richard's hands clenched...The two lout minions eyed each other...

"But she was right enough comin' out...Maybe it wasn't her after all..." Squears tried, considerably less spritely now...

"Where...Is...She...Now?..."

Uhhh, well... "We could only follow her so far, sir..." Warren smiled feebly...Addams staring at him a moment, then opening a desk drawer...

"Take this..." he tossed a bag of money which Squears caught as Smike trying, stumbled into him...Ow!...Ya stupid!... "Enough!..."

"Now...Get...Out...Use whatever means you have to...Find her...Or do not come back to my employ..." a quietly menacing tone... "And find out where Walthrop is...Within the day..."

"Ah, yes sir...Ah, certainly sir..."

"Get...Out...And send my assistant Barnes in here when you go..." he turned from them to look out the large window behind him, giving an impressive vista of the rising City...

My grandchild...he thought, as Smike nervously closed the door, Squears and he backing out...

Drusilla...

PG-13...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page . , or direct to story at ...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

Part XXXVIII...

Early morning...

In a building adjacent to the Savoy theater, Simon Farris and his recently summoned 'partner' vengeance demon Halfreck, in her guise as Cicely, watched in not a little shock as a leaping Drusilla rushed past their stairwell window on her way to the ground below...

"Great God!..." Farris pressed against the glass as Dru hit and rolled to the ground...Rising up almost immediately, seeming none the worse for wear...

My...Halfreck stared at her part of the window...That insane little maniac does make a unique exit...The two observers eyed each other...

"Has she lost her mind?..." Farris asked, immediately realizing the pointlessness of that question...

Dru slipped immediately round back of the halted hearse, apparently unnoticed by the driver of the following carriage...Though whether he'd been turned away and missed the sight, failed to see it for the fog hanging about, or stuck dumb with shock was open to question...

The funeral procession, having received a right of way, resumed its sad course...Farris and Halfreck glued to the window...Though Farris had recovered enough presence of mind to look back, peering down the hall of their floor and then below them on the stairs to see if any of his staff, or more importantly, any of the others in the Council's employ but not directly under his own control, had seen or heard enough to bring them out...Nothing...

Fools...He'd thought at least he'd trained his own better...Some prunings definitely called for...Later...

The procession moved on...Leaving an empty street...Not a sign of Drusilla...

"Halfreck?..." Farris turned to her... "I'll see..." she nodded... "Clearly she wasn't destroyed and those clouds and mist should be enough sun protection for now..." She vanished...

The tools one must employ at times...Farris sighed to himself...Looking up the road where the procession had vanished into early morning fog...

Still...A very resourceful and daring...Well, whatever Drusilla was...

And likely a worthy match for Cicely...When the time came...

Near the Thames docks...Same time...

Despite the grave risk...Of being trapped by day should the current friendly morning clouds and fogs chose to remove their kindly protection...And of invoking the implacable Slayer's wrath at halting, however briefly, their efforts to advertize their presence to Drusilla...The pleas of his weary, stricken mate had both melted and fortified the courageous, if it would not be incongruous to say, manly heart of the noble Angelus...And he had led his beloved Darla to a small, somewhat disreputable, but with the saving grace of opening quite early, tea shop/bakery...

("I won't go another step in this muck, you worthless Slayer's boot-licking coward!..."Darla hissed..."I don't care if the Slayer stakes us...She oughta know we can't go much further now anyway...")

Sadly his dark existence having limited his ability to acquire much in the way of human funds...(So he blew everything at that tavern, and forgot to clean the till on leaving, eh?...Vladimir thought, smiling at Willie...) Though he was determined, with the thought of his dearest mate's safety uppermost, of course, to keep his pledge to the Slayer to avoid violence or bloodshed against his instinctual prey...

"Sweetheart...I'm afraid I may be a bit short..." he noted quietly to Darla as they took rather worn and greasy...Urrgh... "Give me your coat..." Darla hissed...Seats...

"Since when have you ever not been?..." she glared...But well aware of the Slayer's close eye on them from wherever she'd secreted herself, she reluctantly pulled out her bag...

Just lucky she'd had the foresight not to throw away that last ten shillings on her elderly helper...

"Tea...And some of those fine crumpets you have on the counter..." Angelus beamed with his famed hearty good-humor at the rather pretty young girl who'd come to take their order...A teasing chuckle at her slight embarrassment in knocking the sugar pot a bit...

(A witheringly glaring Darla mentally noting the address of the place...For future reference...)

Parlor of the funeral home of Abercrombie and Son, not far from the Thames, same time...

"So it's my understanding the young lady coming in was taken sudden at home...?" One of the assistant undertakers tapped his fellow employee, an attractive brown-haired young woman in soberly respectable garb, busy in her work as a dresser... "Hold off, Sid!..." Brushing his hand away from her arm... "You'll make me muss the poor things..." "There now..." she looked over her handiwork, pleased... Twin girls, dead as a consequence of a drunken brutal father and a large loaded pistol...A matter the family had preferred not to mention in the death notice, identifying cause as "sudden illness"...

"Yes...The family requested for the work to be done there, Mr. Abercrombie himself went in...They're bringing her to the chapel here for services..." she frowned and wiped at makeup and hair artfully covering a hideous wound on the head of one of the girls...Looking up hastily at the sound of horses' hooves clicking and wheels grinding out front...A large shape distinguishable though the parlor curtains as it passed, heading for the driveway...Sounds of other carriages pulling up...

Abby...the assistant undertaker looked at her... "They're here, look sharp, Sid and go help the Mister...I'll let them in the chapel know..." He hurried to the driveway side entrance as she closed the lids of the little coffins and began clearing her things...

Outside the tea shop/bakery where Darla was being encouraged by her noble mate to partake of the refreshing, if in their case not exactly nutritive, food just brought (Darla fuming as he no doubt once again hit her up for the bill, Vladimir thought...) Cicely, Jonathan Levinson, and Andrew Fowler waited, watching from a reasonably secluded building entranceway...The Slayer's cousin, Henry, having been sent home to avert any concerns about his and the other gentlemen's whereabouts as well as determine what information the Council's agents round the Savoy and about the City in general might have acquired, to rejoin the others as soon as possible...

"What the devil are they doing in there?..." an impatient Cicely fumed... "I gave them no leave to fiddle about like this..."

Rather surprised they can eat like people...Jonathan thought, Andrew echoing that thought aloud... "Thought those types ate only blood and so on..."

Bit out of my line, though...Fowler noted...

"We might do well to go on in ourselves..." Jonathan suggested, looking at poor Cicely's worn, exhausted face as Andrew scanned the street for the mysterious Miss...What was the name? Ah, right...Drusilla...Rather pretty name for a looney or vampire... "They may be planning some mischief to the people inside...And we could all use a cup of tea I'm sure..." Levinson smiled at her slight frown... "Well, at least I could...Afraid you keep rather difficult hours for me, Cicely..." She relaxed a hair and gave a faint return smile, nodding...

"I suppose we all could...And we may as well remind our... 'Friends'...That we're still right on their heels..." she wearily made her way forward...Straightening a bit as she approached the door, willing herself to a firm bearing...Though Jonathan noted her slight tremble as he and Andrew followed behind...

As did Andrew...Who paused at the door as Cicely opened and went through... "I say, Levinson...Don't you think she ought to rest?...See a doctor?..." he noted in a low voice... "After last night..." he delicately avoided the sad subject of what had been the cause of her exhaustion...Which Chairman Rathskeller had, with equal delicacy, informed them and Henry of to their mutual sorrow, just before they'd set out with her...

"I think it would do her more harm to have to be forced to do nothing now, Andrew..." Jonathan shook his head...Opening the door for his friend... "Just be on guard with this lot...That's the best thing we can do right now for her..." They entered...Cicely having nodded politely but coolly to Angelus' friendly wave and smile and Darla's guarded look...Though she gave Jonathan a slight, hopeful smile...Surely such a kind and dear gentleman would persuade the Slayer to continue to see reason...Which he returned with a nod...

"Try the crumpets, by all means, Mrs. Walthrop, gentlemen!..." Angelus cheerily called... "They're excellent..." he beamed again at the waitress pausing to inquire...More tea, sir?...

Darkness...All about her...The wind howling as it roared over the steep, shrouded mountains...Wolves howling in the distance...But ahead, the comforting glow of lights from a huge castle, the sounds of singing, even merriment notwithstanding the threatening night...Safety, contentment, love all lay in that place, she somehow knew...

Home...The thought came to her...This was home...And He was there, waiting...Her Prince...

No...Wait...Home was a mining town...Uncles and Mum and poor ole Dad who'd died so young in the mines...And her Prince was a slight, blonde-brown haired poet, currently locked and bound in a costume storage closet of the Savoy theater...Hope he wasn't too uncomfortable, poor thing...

And yet...Dru thought as she lay in the darkness of the reclosed coffin in which she'd hidden, apologizing once again to the slender young corpse beneath her, covered by the thick wrap she found in the hearse on breaking in by the back...Thank God for the ravages of consumption and the young lady's family's desire to have the poor dear buried in a rather nice and large casket...The hearse rattling to a stop as she mused...

And yet...Somehow...She knew that place, that vision...Was where she must go...And where she would meet and defeat her opponent...A place far to the east...Calling to her...

Though of course, first, she had to escape her current difficulties, determine some idea of where and how to go, and above all, secure her poet-Prince...

Ahhh!...She sat up in terror, pushing the coffin lid open a moment as Haly's Cicely head peered through the solid lid...Ummn, so sorry, dear...

Hmmn...This...Halfreck thought as she eyed the trembling Drusilla...Sitting in the open coffin atop a covered something that was no doubt the original occupant...Has got to be the strangest case I have taken yet...

"You have to persuade Cicely to stop this, Mr. Farris..." Henry pleaded to Farris whom he had sought out at the surveillance house on his return, seeking to give and receive information, but above all to have the Watcher's assistance in getting Cicely to hand her tracking operation over to others at least for a short time...

"She has to see a doctor...She's ill...If she continues on this course..."

My fondest wishes for her will be fulfilled?...Farris thought mockingly...

"My boy...We've all tried to get her to desist and let us track Angelus and Darla...You know her answer...We must trust in her strength and recuperative powers..."

Henry turned to the recently returned Chairman Rathskeller and his aide Miss...Rosenberg?...Yes... "Mr. Rathskeller...She'll be an easy prey for those two if she doesn't stop soon...Jonathan, Andrew, and I can't be much more than an encumbrance to her...Isn't there any way you can make her see reason?..."

"Mr. Farris is quite right, Mr. Foxcroft..." Arthur sighed... "We have tried...She is determined...And the Slayer...There's little we can do short of finding Mr. Walthrop ourselves...Or..." he eyed Simon...

My head is still spinning over all this...Sir Arthur Sullivan noted to D'Oyly Carte as they stood by... "One gets used to the new and strange surprisingly quickly, Arthur..." Carte pleasantly replied...They having insisted on accompanying Rathskeller and Miss Rosenberg after meeting them outside the Savoy enroute to Farris' surveillance team a short time before...Deeply concerned for both the lovely and increasingly tragic Mrs. Walthrop and her lost husband...And for the security of the coming grand opening of "The Mikado..." Scheduled for tonight in fact with too little time to change theaters though they'd been assured that the vampiral troublemakers had for now at least, departed for new locales...And that the theater would be kept under surveillance until the pride had been dealt with...

Thank God they'd not had to mention the details of the night's bizarre events to old Gilbert, Sullivan sighed...Thought the idea of a work based on these creatures does seem rather...he thought...

Must find a way sometime to present it to him as a sudden fancy of mine and see what he can do with it...Now that we're recaught some of the old fire with this "Mikado" who knows where our imagination might take us next...

A vision?...Haly stared at the insistent Dru...You want me to go off and chase after some vision you've had and figure out where the damned fairy land in your psychotic skull is...?

"A dark, mountainous place, Lady..." Dru noted eagerly, adjusting her seated position on the corpse below... "Yes...I can see it in your mind, child..." Haly sighed a bit...

Just wish you'd add a few details, I may be telepathic and in command of mighty occult powers but I have to have something tangible to go on...

Still it seems like a place suited for a vampiress...Hmmn...To the East, she said...

Would keep the Slayer hoppin'...And in her current state...

"Varna..." Dru suddenly whispered... "Yes...That's where I must go...The port of Varna...I can reach...The place...From there...Varna..." she repeated...

Hmmn...Helps to have a geographic marker...Varna...Ah...

"Romania..." Haly pondered... "Ah...Of course...Transylvania...Lovely place, I know it well..."

I cursed a lot of Romans, Byzantines, Turks, Russians, and others there...she happily noted...Yes, a hoppin' place in history...Once...

"I remember how Anyanka...Er...I..." she lied... "Once cursed this Wallachian Prince and his wife for the Turks, ages ago...And who do you think he ends up as but..."

The sound of busy activity from outside...The undertakers and pallbearers no doubt approaching...Haly stopped abruptly, waving Dru to resume her deception... "I'll be with you dear, invisible to these humans, don't lose heart..." she encouragingly called as Dru lay flat and reclosed the coffin lid...

Unnerving way to travel...Haly thought as the rear door opened and several men began pulling at the coffin...Still the lil' psycho's gotta be used to it...

Transylvania, eh?...Well perhaps the ole Grand Master of Vamps' Prince Vlad's influence was making itself felt on a sire descendant?...In any case though a roundabout means of getting the job done at last, not all that bad an idea if Cicely followed on some hopeless quest, ending in her finding herself too late and all lost, with her husband dead and transformed and she herself trapped by Dru in a land dominated by the Darkness...

A place where Dru had foreseen victory...Even as she had foreseen both Haly's and Walthrop's coming...

And Dru's visions while often confusing, had generally been reliable...

Drusilla...

PG-13...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page . , or direct to story at ...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

Part XXXIX...

Carriageway of the Abercrombie and Son funeral home...

"All right, lads..." Mr. Fulston Abercrombie, solidly heavy-set, mutton-chopped Abercrombie of Abercrombie and Sons...Eyed his rather loutish two sons, Leo, the hulking younger, again nervously eyeing the open hearse, clearly on the brink of again requesting another look at the pretty lady...Raymond, the heavy-browed elder, making a feeble attempt to stand erect in his utterly unsuitable mourning suit while trying vainly to read out the family's written instructions as to their daughter's final repose...

Lord, tell me the Missus cuckolded me...the mortician thought, taking the note from his heir... "Get 'er into the dressing room and leave Abby to her..." The two pulled at the casket, dragging it back from the hearse onto a wheeled carrier...

"You know, Drusilla...This is not too bad a hiding place for you..." Haly noted to her charge within the nick-of-time-resealed coffin ...Only the vengeance demon's lovely Cicely head visible where she faced the reclining Dru within, the rest of Halfreck's body outside and invisible to the carriers... Actually not at all bad, rather a pleasant place to rest in, minus the rotting hostess below us, Haly thought, looking at the delicate velvet and lace trim...One can see why these vampires are so fond of their abodes...

"And with the help of these people...Who must have the ability to make shipments to the Continent..." she eyed her client...Uhnn...Groaning a bit as the casket shook and bucked...

Dru, lying on top of her current resting place's true owner, nervously looked round, restrained from crying out at every jostling by Haly's calming presence...

This was not quite looking like so good a thought as a few minutes ago when she'd desperately boarded the hearse and entered into a dead-in arrangement with her co-occupant...

But there hadn't exactly been a lot of time to consider the situation...

"The only problem I foresee...Once you've made friends here...Is how..." Oh!...she gave a start as the casket, now inside the funeral home, dropped a bit onto a table... "Sorry...Anyway, the problem seems to me now to be...How to get Mr. Walthrop to travel with you?...If Mrs. Walthrop does not think to try the theater again and finds him despite what I've given you to conceal him..."

Unless...she smiled... "You think he's finished and will be joining you shortly..." Dru shook her head...Not yet...

"It was not time...He was not ready to join me...I was too hasty, Lady...I apologize..."

Bout time someone showed me a little courtesy, Halfreck thought, pleased, though a bit puzzled...

"I have been granted two opportunities...Only two...That is what my visions tell me..." Dru explained...

"The first night in London when your Slayer did not abandon him..." She gave a slight frown...

Hey not my fault, girl...Haly frowned back...

"The second, has not yet come...That is why I was not allowed to succeed the other night...But it will come...In the land of my dreams..." Dru smiled gently...Then winced as the casket made a particularly sharp bang...Shouts heard from outside... "Mind, you idiots...Get 'er on the table there gentle!..." Bang, thud... "I said, gentle!...Abby!..."

Sounds of fading bootsteps...A door slamming...Haly pulled head out of the coffin a moment...Hmmn...She returned... "Alls clear now...They've got you settled and left...Someone should be coming to have a look at you...er her..." she nodded to the corpse below... "In a short time..." Dru nodded...

The vengeance demon eyed her charge...Something almost disturbing about her calm...

"Drusilla?...How do you know you will succeed in Transylvania?...What exactly do your visions say?..."

"I see that I will be with my Prince..." she paused... "And the Slayer will die...At my hands..."

Hmmn...Now that's the kind of no-nonsense vision that really does it for me, Haly thought...

The tea room near the Thames...Same time...

Darla, seeing the clouds and fog beginning to lift, decided to try sweet reason with the Slayer, moving over carefully to the table where Cicely sat with her devoted aides, the barrister/ex-suitor Jonathan Levinson and more or less merchant/likewise ex-suitor Andrew Fowler...

She kept hands slightly from her sides in a peaceful gesture as Angelus watched from their table...Happily wolfing down the last crumpet...

Cicely eyeing her coldly, hand reaching to a concealed pocket in the jacket she wore over the everyday blouse and skirt Henry had brought her the night before at the theater from her traveling bag left at the Savoy...

"Slayer..." Darla hissed carefully, moving to block the view of the staff at the counter... "Mrs. Walthrop..." Cicely replied quietly...

"Mrs. Walthrop...Ma'am...You must see my mate and I can do no more today...We must seek shelter very soon or perish..." a respectfully earnest look, with quick, hopeful glance to Levinson...

"You've given me no clue as to my husband's or Drusilla's whereabouts..." Cicely shook her head... "Until you do there will be no rest for either of you today..."

"We can hardly help you if we're piles of..." Darla snapped, cutting off as the waitress passed on her way to Angelus with a new pot of tea...Thank you, dear...he beamed kindly...She curtsying slightly...

...Dust...the vampiress concluded...

"Then, to avoid that fate...Find my husband...Or find your male's...Other companion..." a cold stare...

And tell your mate he'll either bring his tea along or he can be swept up by that charming young girl...

Oh...Please do...Darla thought...She looked back where Angelus was contentedly looking over the morning Times, sipping tea...With polite nod to several new customers entering...

Hmmn...Tell him alls well and to take his time?...Nah...I may need him to keep the Slayer busy for a moment or two later...

Abercrombie and Sons Funeral Parlor...Dressing and prep room...

Abby, the dresser, alone in the room for final preparations before the memorial service had been gently restored to a tranquil state by Drusilla after experiencing near-fatal shock on opening the casket for inspection of the corpse...Corpses...

Dru patted her new minion gently...In deep hypnotic trance...She having preferred not to risk the danger of exposure via the strengthening but regrettably too easily spotted effect of thrall bite, a little kindness and positive reinforcement was called for...Not that it was not her nature to treat her victims with what gentleness time and circumstances allowed...Particularly now with the constant pressure of her 'sister' the soul's presence...

"Abby...I'll be staying here until we can find a way for me and my Prince to get where we need to go...But I'm sure with the help of you and the other good people here, we'll succeed..."

Yes, ma'am...Abby replied ...

"Well...I'll meet your employer and the others later when things settle down and time allows...And I shouldn't delay you in your work...I hope you'll be able to make the young lady ready in time for her service..." she eyed her traveling companion in the casket...Hmmn...A bit mussed but nothing not easily mended... "I'll just take a seat over here and leave you to it...If anyone should ask, I'm your cousin Dru...Waverly, just in visiting from the country a day or two earlier than you'd expected...Far too shy, innocent, and wary of our great London to be left alone... "

Yes, ma'am...the dresser quietly moved to her work... "Drusilla...Or Dru...Is fine, cousin Abby..."

"Though if I can help in any way..." Dru kindly noted...

Retired costume storage closet in the sub-basement of the Savoy Theater...

Morning...

An exhausted William fell back from the wall he'd been trying to bang against, hoping to attract attention...

No luck...Except the bad of cutting his wrist slightly...A little more blood loss to add to what Drusilla had taken already...Lovely...

He tried again with the gag in his mouth...Trying to use his tongue to push it aside, at least enough to get some kind of cry out, however muffled...

Again no good...This 'lady', Drusilla or whatever her name was...Knew her gaging as well as she did her hogtying...

Uh...He felt again the moment of her bite...The faint taste of the blood from her wrist she'd forced in his mouth before leaving...

She has her claws in me now, though God knows what that may mean...At least she wasn't ready to kill me just yet...

Unless I'm already...And don't realize...Hmmn...No, blood doesn't suddenly seem just the thing to make a meal...For whatever twisted reason she was not willing to take me involuntarily...

And as yet at least I don't feel any great desire to change spouses, thanks much...

Bit embarrassing to have her so obsessed with me...It seems more than just a challenge to Cics...

If time allowed I ought to be flattered I suppose...The two most unusual females in London are mad about me...Not bad for William the Bloody Awful, even if in both cases I can't understand what they see in me...Though dear Mr. Henderson is quite welcome to my new admirer...

Hmmn...A necklace she'd thrown round him just before leaving slipped a bit on his chest...Somehow I don't think this was quite meant as an engagement gift...Some kind of charm, perhaps?...

Or maybe it was just a token...Still it might do well to get it off...He tried moving his bound arms again, nothing...Then shaking himself...No good...

He paused, trying to slow slide down to a sitting or kneeling posture...Gather his strength a bit...

It can't be, God...He thought in spite of his best efforts to repress...Dear God, let it not be...He slid a bit further...Involuntarily now...

Arhh...Worse than ever...Well, nothing to do but try to collect oneself and think of some way out...Some way to make enough noise, perhaps...

The nightmare come to be, just as my poor girl'd feared...Her enemies striking at her through me...

And...No...I mustn't think of that now...Later, with her, when there is time and place for sorrow...

But the image of Dru's sad face came to him...Begging his forgiveness...

God, my Cicely...My poor, poor Cicely...

Pray God she isn't seeking that mad thing now...In her condition...

If she's even...No, the madwoman...Or whatever she is...Would have come, told me...Perhaps even with sincere regret for me, strange creature that she is...

This, Lord...Is truly unforgivable...And high proof of your non-existence...To let this happen...Leave Cicely to suffer alone...

Mourning our lost child alone...

No...That she is not doing...Even if I can't be with her, he thought...

And there is one thing...Whatever sympathy I may feel for that creature, the woman she once was...Whatever hold she may now have on me...I have my child's spirit to remind me that she is a monster...

Drusilla...

PG-13...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page . , or direct to story at

...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But

Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their

idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

Part XL...

A street near the Thames...Midmorning...

An inwardly fuming Darla attempting to maintain some degree of composure...As well as keeping the umbrella kindly provided her by Jonathan as they'd left the tea shop carefully aimed at the sun now peeking occasionally through the mostly cloudy sky as she walked along, trying to concentrate on any possible scent or aura of her lost 'granddaughter'...er 'cousin'...

Angelus beside her likewise with open umbrella...Against the threatening sky, he pleasantly noted to a passerby who likewise opened his own...Pneumonia's a dreadful thing to catch, the man nodded to the pleasant gentleman, who gave a friendly nod...

Cicely, the said Mr. Levinson, and Fowler following at close range...

The retired costume closet in the Savoy subbasement...

What would one of Gilbert's heroes do now?...William sighed to himself...Burst into song, no doubt...he sighed to himself...Hearing music faintly filtering in from above, voices of several of the company...Hmmn, not a full orchestra must be rehearsal, possibly the morning session...

Right...he smiled as he made out the tune...

From "P'haps If You Address the Lady" ("Princess Ida")...

"For a month to dwell

In a dungeon cell:

Growing thin and wizen

In a solitary prison,

Is a poor look out

For a soldier stout,

Who is longing for the rattle

Of a complicated battle-

Who is longing for the rattle

Of a complicated battle-

For the rum - tum - tum

Of the military drum

And the guns that go boom! boom!

The rum - tum - tum

Of the military drum,

Rum - tum - tum - tummy tummy tummy tummy tum

Who is longing for the rattle of a complicated battle -

For the rum tum tum

Of the military drum!

Prr, prr, prr, ra - pum - pum!

When Hilarion's bride

Has at length complied

With the just conditions

Of our requisitions,

You may go in haste

And indulge your taste

For the fascinating rattle

Of a complicated battle-

For the fascinating rattle

Of a complicated battle-

For the rum - tum - tum,

Of the military drum,

And the guns that go boom! boom!

All:

The rum - tum - tum

Of the military drum,

Rum - tum - tum - tummy tummy tummy tummy tum!

Who is longing for the rattle

Of a complicated battle

For the rum - tum - tum

Of the military drum!

Tum, prr - prr - prr ra - pum, pum!

But til that time you'll [we'll] here remain,

And bail we [they] will not entertain,

Should she our [his] mandate disobey,

Your [Our] lives the penalty will pay!

But till that time you'll [we'll] here remain,

And bail we [they] will not entertain.

Should she our [his] mandate disobey,

Your [Our] lives the penalty will pay!

Should she our [his] mandate disobey,

Your [Our] lives the penalty will pay!"

I think I know the feeling, gentlemen...Though I have no intention of spending a month in Miss Dru's prison cell...he tried to concentrate on the gag...If he could just get off a yell...No good...

Unfortunately, he ruefully thought...It's highly doubtful she plans to allow that much time in any case...

The Rakes of Mallow...

"Beauing, belling, dancing, drinking,

Breaking windows, cursing, sinking

Ever raking, never thinking,

Live the Rakes of Mallow;

Spending faster than it comes,

Beating waiter's bailiffs, duns,

Bacchus' true begotten sons,

Live the Rakes of Mallow.

One time naught but claret drinking,

Then like politicians, thinking

To raise the "sinking funds" when sinking.

Live the Rakes of Mallow.

When at home, with Da-da dying,

Still for mellow water crying;

But, where there's good claret plying

Live the Rakes of Mallow.

Living short but merry lives,

Going where the devil drives,

Having sweethearts, but no wives,

Live the rakes of Mallow.

Racking tenants, stewards teasing,

Swiftly spending, slowly raising,

Wishing to spend all their days in

Raking as at Mallow.

Then to end this raking life,

They get sober, take a wife,

Ever after live in strife,

And wish again for Mallow..."

"In good voice today, sir!..." an eagerly friendly tradesman called out as Angelus and Darla passed by his little stand...Angelus offering an appreciative nod...

Even for the unjustly and innocently condemned a pleasant morning stroll watching the fog and mist lift (not too quickly, please God) still can be a heartening experience...As humming and singing snatches of one of his favorite tunes from the old days in the Old Sod, the noble Angelus continued his kindly efforts to bolster his mate's spirits as they continued to make their cautious way along London's morning streets near the Thames, umbrellas carefully angled...

Cicely's group shadowing closely...From the frowning glare Angelus caught on turning back to view them, Cicely clearly not too pleased at the progress made so far...

(... 'Ever raking, never thinking'...Sounds like his perfect theme song...Darla cursed to herself... "Shut up and keep close to me, you moron...") "We've got to get out of this somehow, these damned things won't protect us much longer..."

Indeed the peril was growing for them, the gallant vampiral Prince (Prince, again?...And this time I'm sure he meant capital P...Where the hell does he get off with "Prince"...Vladimir glared...)...Noted to himself...

Action would have to be taken soon if no trace of Dru appeared...

("Throw Darla at Mrs. Walthrop and run like Hell?..." Vladimir suggested to Angelus' cold stare, Willie repressing a chuckle... "Only a suggestion, my friend...")

"Wait..." Darla paused, concentrating... "This way..." she waved toward a side street...

Darling?...I don't...Angelus began...

"Quiet...I think I know this street..." she hissed... "You sense Drusilla...Get me?..."

Ohhhh...

"Yes, darling...I do think it is this way!..." he called out...Looking back to the three following...

"Now..." Dru eyed the six-member staff of Abercrombie and Son, assembled in the prep room...Her staff now...Though she'd kindly allowed the morning funeral of her recent traveling companion to proceed without interruption, maintaining her role as 'Abby's shy country cousin Dru'...Rather nice to use the old Waverly last name again...Until the family had made its tearful farewells and headed off...

And she'd finally made her formal introductions to all the staff at hand...Only Mr. Abercrombie himself unavailable, busy with the deceased's family as he'd been...

"We will have to be ready to move quickly, my friends...My Prince and I must be able to depart on the next suitable ship for Varna...In...Ummn..."

"Romania, dear..." Halfreck in Cicely garb at her side, kindly reminded her...

"Only Mr. Abercrombie can arrange a shipping like that, miss..." Sid, the young assistant undertaker noted...His face a bit wan...

"Yes...Only Mr. A...Ma'am..." Abby agreed faintly...

"Well, he will be returning shortly, won't he?...After he speaks to the poor young lady's father about the tally for the service?..."

Pretty lady...the hulking Leo thought, with perhaps a bit less dullness actually than usual...Hypnotic thrall having provided him a little focus...

"Well, ma'am..." Abby replied softly... "He'll be back...But he'll probably be a while calling on our other customers, then stopping by a few of his favorite places to see his business acquaintances...It might be hours as we've nothing scheduled for later today...

"The till's been cleaned...Dad's like to go off on a tear when there's no trade booked for a day or two..." the beetle-browed Raymond noted...Having been hopefully engaged in a raid on the till himself when Abby's lovely visiting cousin had come in after him seeking to get better acquainted...

"I see..." Dru frowned... "Well, is it so difficult to make out the orders without him?...If we have to leave tonight or early tomorrow?..."

"Sid did it once, when Mr. A was away on holiday...But that was under Mr. A's express order..." Abby's dazed face wore a slightly perturbed expression...

Thrall or no...To go and try something like this without Mr. A's approval...

"Well, then Sidney..." Dru turned to the young man... "I'll rely on you to prepare the orders and have a couple of caskets ready to ship out...Remember it may have to be on very short notice...Do you have a list of ships going out at hand?..."

"Bob and me..." Sid indicated the firm's young messenger/odd jobs boy, who sat staring blankly at Dru... "We generally head down to the shipping office when an order comes in, Miss...Mostly for folks visiting from the Continent who die here...Frenchies and the like...We could get a list..."

"Please..." Dru smiled... "But don't tell anyone why...Just say you've heard your employer might need to know for a possible rush order and you're trying to keep ahead of things..."

"Aye, miss..."

"And young man..." she eyed the young boy... "Try to look a bit sharper, please...We wouldn't want to raise any suspicions that might bring the Slayer down on us..."

"Yes, mum..." Robert nodded...

"And see if tickets can be purchased for passengers on the same ship, Sidney...I might want some of you to come to Romania with us to protect us on the voyage..."

Very nice...Haly nodded, impressed...She has learned to focus...

"Remember my friends..." Dru eyed the group...And turned to Haly... "This is the one you must not let find me or my Prince..." she showed a now well-worn copy of the Times turned to the page with William's and Cicely's photos and a most disapproving editorial comment...

"Should my lady here...My fairy godmother..." Dru beamed at Haly...Who rolled eyes slightly as her client turned away... "Need to contact any one of us, she will reveal herself as...Ummn...?"

"Halfreck..." Haly noted, a bit brittley... Geesh, after all I've been through for her, she can't keep my name straight?...

"Halfreck..." Dru finished... "Else it is the Slayer, my mortal enemy...From whom you all must protect me, even with your very lives..."

"Best for your friends not to attract her attention, dear..." Haly hastily pointed out... "None of them is likely to be able to deal with her..."

"Yes...My lady is quite right...Don't do anything to make her suspect you should she come upon you when I am not in jeopardy...Only if she is upon me should you try to oppose her...You all understand?..."

A chorus of somewhat vacant nods...

"Really?..." Dru eyed Leo and Raymond... "Only if she's got you to rights, ma'am?..." Raymond suggested... "That's right..." she nodded, pleased... "All right, you'd all best go on about things..."

"I must go myself...Check on the Slayer's movements...And with our other friend..." Haly noted...

"Who is our other friend, lady?...You have not told me..." Dru regarded her...

"Best to let that come out in good time, my dear..." Haly waved a hand... "It must be enough for now for you to know that you have such a friend...In addition to me...But you will be pleased to learn who has taken such an interest in helping you..." a grin as the demon vanished...

"Always wanted to see the Continent..." Abby noted wistfully as Sidney and Bob headed out...

"And perhaps you will, dear..." Dru patted her...Hmmn...She eyed the large embalming fluid pump by the table... "What is...?" she pointed...

"The fluid pump, ma'am...for the embalming..." Abby explained...

"Can't see how you can work every day with such things about you..." the vampiress shook her head, shuddering a little...

Drusilla...

PG-13...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page . , or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

Part XLI...

"When we reach the fourth building on the left, I'll make for the door...You run for the one on the right, if I remember correctly the cellars all exit in the next street...Just get back out to the next street and make for the waterfront, get into any safe building and wait for me there..." Darla hastily told her mate as they moved down the side street, each trying to maintain the look of an alert hunter who'd caught a scent...

Hmmn...If...she remembers correctly?...Angelus pondered...Still, splitting up would improve the odds for one of us...

But naturally I can't conceive of letting my Darla take such a risk...

("And weighed down as he is by all those crumpets and tea..." Vladimir noted... "I of course refer to your condemned 'ancestral' fiend my friend..."

Of...Course...Angelus glared...)

"I think, dearest..." he began...

Darla?...He looked as she raced now for the fourth building on the left...

Her courageous heart doubtless unable to resist making the ultimate sacrifice for him...Though his chances of making the other, farther, building...Or heck, as he saw a furious Cicely bearing down on him...Even using Darla's escape route, impossible...

Well, nothing to do now except brace to gallantly meet his fate...He turned to Cicely who was on him now, stake in hand...Tossing him back against the pavement as Jonathan and Andrew came up...

(Bet 'tossing him down' wasn't that hard to do...Angelus no doubt on his knees, whimpering in fear...Vladimir thought, smiling benignly at his guest...A scene I will definitely insist on for our own sequel later...

After Angelus has done a fair share of whimpering before me...)

"Bastard!..." she raised 'Dickens' for a quick finish...

"Slayer?...Darla's found her!..." he pointed to the building... "We've not betrayed you!..."

"Liar!..." she hissed...But hesitated...

"There's no trace of her...I feel nothing...!"

"I swear Mrs. Walthrop!..." Angelus did his manly best to buy time for his fleeing beloved...

(Yeah, right...Vladimir and Willie exchanged looks...Even the quiet Stoker, though wearing an unfathomable expression, gave a slight grunt... "As we were saying, my friend... 'Absolutely'..." Vladimir smiled...)

"Levinson!...Wait!...Cicely...er Mrs. Walthrop!..." Fowler called, she looking back... "Jonathan's gone in after her!..."

She spun fully around... "Please try something..." her growl to Angelus hanging in the air as she did...He rising, carefully considering his options...

And groaning as the sun broke through a cloud, sending a beam which scorched his hand...He looked wildly for the umbrella, dropped in his fall...Uh-oh...

Cicely turned back to him... "That building, if you don't want to burn, follow me, now!...And if you and your mate are lying!...Or Mr. Levinson is harmed!..."

He staggered after her, Fowler now throwing the door open and entering... "Wait, Andrew!..." she calling in vain...

In the cellar of the building Darla, followed by Jonathan and Andrew, had just entered...By deliberately dimmed lantern light...

"This it, Abercrombie?...Mighty slim trade these past days..." an annoyed, thin voice...From a small, stick-like figure in dark clothes and somewhat incongruous tall hat, addressing none other than Fulston Abercrombie of Abercrombie and Sons, still in his formal working uniform of mourning suit...

"That's the lot...Just a little jewelry...The dress is good material..." A large, patting hand on said "good" material...A white formal dress just removed from its nearby owner...

"Aye..." the other shrugged... "But not worth my coming out..."

"Well, the lass herself ought to fetch a good..." At the sound of a violent crash above, followed by running steps, both men turned from their consideration of a young woman's naked corpse in her casket...The same young woman...And the same casket, supposedly interred little more than an hour before, that Dru had traveled with earlier that morning...

"Darla!..." Jonathan called, looking round the grungy hall of the rather decrepit building his quarry had raced into...A couple of unspeakably meanly attired persons lying about...Movement suggesting they were alive, the reek of cheap liquor that they were not victims of either Drusilla or the fleeing Darla... "Pardon..." he stepped carefully round them, one opening eyes and mumbling, grabbed at him...

Hey!...He kicked the man off...Spying stairs in back...

"Darla...!" he reached the flight of stairs just as Andrew entered...And loud cries was heard below...Accompanied by a hideous growl...

"I say, wait Levinson...!" Andrew cried...

"Jonathan!..." Cicely crashed through the front door, knocking Andrew to one side... "Stop!...They may both be down..."

"Ahhhh!..." More screams from below...Jonathan hurried down, stake in hand, Cicely racing for the stairs...Andrew following...

"Hello...?" Angelus called, stepping inside... "Mrs. Walthrop?...Gentlemen?...Sweetheart?..."

Hmmn...He listened to the screams from below, accompanied by ferocious growling and now, the sounds of shouted voices...The Slayer's among them...

Well...Perhaps best to wait and see, given that with the noon sun almost fully out now, a quick exit was impossible...He eyed the two humans on the floor...Hmmn...

No, perhaps not...Even if the Slayer didn't survive down there...Sounds of crashing, a distinct "Darla!..."...The thought of dining on these two...However merciful it might be to terminate their miserable existences...One let out a loud, drunken belch...

Rats...Of which there were several varieties engaged in various activities about the floor, considerably more appealing...

The belcher opening her?...Yes, vaguely female...Eyes... Blearily making him out in the dim light...

"Us wants some, love?..." she managed a vague gap-toothed smile...

No...Definitely not that hungry... "Another time, perhaps..." he noted politely... "F-off, toff bastard!..." she threw something rather horrible in his vague direction and returned to her slumbers...

Toff, eh?...he thought, pleased...Well, clothes do make the man, Darla always says...

Hmmn...Sounds of shouting now...Cicely's...And Darla's voice as well...

Well, not dust yet, eh?...The stairs below creaking...

"You see, Slayer..." Darla's voice drifting up, a tad placating... "I keep my word..."

"God have mercy on us..." a male voice whimpered, coming stronger...The party clearly coming up the stairs... "What is she?..."

"Quiet...Keep moving..." Cicely's voice...

Jonathan now appeared at the top of the stairs...Angelus giving a friendly wave...Just keeping my post, friends...All humans here alive and well...Andrew emerging a moment later...

"Miss...Or whatever you are...I am Fulston Abercrombie of Abercrombie and Sons, a respectable businessman..." a stronger male voice now took physical form as a large man in sober, even somber, attire, appeared, following up the stairs after Andrew...

"And I am Thaddaus MacNee...Likewise respectable...And you and your..." a wizened older man in somewhat less somber garb, possessor of the whimpering voice, appeared after Abercrombie... "Creature, here..." he looked behind him...A frightened, even terrified look as he went silent a moment...

"Interruptin' a respectable business transaction..." he finished in a considerably weaker voice...

"Abercrombie, the undertaker fellow?..." Andrew eyed him as MacNee was pushed from behind...Darla, to Angelus' surprise, doing the pushing...Cicely right behind her, stake in hand...

"A respectable undertaker?...Selling the clothes and jewelry of the dead?...If only that..." Cicely glared over at Abercrombie...MacNee silent again as Darla eyed him coldly...

"Now miss...I can assure you I had the family's full consent...Just tryin' to raise a few funds for the destitute left behind...Mr. MacNee here is a generous man and a philanthropist... He likes to do what he can..."

Darla giving Angelus a rather wry smile and shrug...Don't ask me how it played out this way...

"Darla?..." Cicely turned to her... "He's not in thrall, Slayer..." she shook her head...

"Where did you get this, sir?...Where is the other lady...er, corpse?..."

"Ma'am?..." Abercrombie eyed Cicely, honestly puzzled...

"We know there must have been another corpse...A young, dark-haired woman?...This..." she held up a piece of battered costume jewelry... "Belonged to her...Where did you take her?...Where is she now?..." she motioned to Darla and pulled 'Dickens' up...

Darla smiling benignly at Abercrombie...Then, again taking demon face... "My God!..." he gasped...Looking at Cicely...

"Tell me where the other one is...Or I swear I'll leave you with her..." Cicely eyed Abercrombie, nodding at Darla...

"Ma'am...I swear...God's honest truth...There was only the one...I had no other trade today..."

Indeed...MacNee nodded, a tad wistfully...

Hardly worth coming out to meet the man today...Considering the risk of the business...Even if the medical part of the trade was a good one...

"This was hers...Either she was one of your corpses today or you must have seen her or taken her somewhere...Where is she?...Tell me or..." she glanced at Darla...Who waited patiently...

"Taken her, ma'am...?" Abercrombie frowned...

"For God's sake, Abercrombie..." MacNee addressed him desperately as Darla, in human face, gave him an appraising glance...

True, not much meat there, but the terror alone in the little fellow...

"Tell her where you got the goods, man..." he plucked at Abercrombie's sleeve...

"Quiet, you fool!...Ma'am...Gentlemen, I don't know who the lady means...Truly...It was all from the young lass down there..." the large undertaker was in quite a sweat now as he nervously tried to avoid the two female faces...One glaring with icy rage...The other simply offering a pleasant, almost angelic beam on her human face...Somehow even more terrifying than the demonic...

Ummn...Andrew eyeing Jonathan...Not exactly quite the right sort of thing?...Should we?...

"Give them a moment, old fellow..." Levinson raised a hand...

Hmmn...Protection from the Council...Slayer-sanctioned torture...And potential free food to follow...Joining the ranks of Good has its advantages...Angelus noted to himself, watching with interest...

Back at the surveillance building adjacent to the Savoy, in a room secure from prying eyes and ears, Farris listened carefully...And rather sourly... to Haly's report on Dru's travel plans...

"Transylvania?...Romania?...Why the devil does the creature wish to head there?..."

"Who knows..." a shrug... "But she's seen the final outcome and is convinced she will triumph over Cicely there..."

Hmmn...To put one's faith in the psychotic visions of an insane vampiress...Not exactly a thing breeding of confidence...

"She still has Walthrop under lock and key?..."

"Oh yes...And with my gift to cover his aura, Cicely will have some little difficulty locating him even if she tries the Savoy again..."

But still alive...A loose end most displeasing...He pondered a moment...

"Is there any chance you could locate him?...If I sent an operative..."

"I could..." Haly nodded... "But it would hardly fulfill our agreement...Cicely would know he'd simply been murdered...While no doubt she'd seek a hideous revenge, I don't think it would provide quite the measure of despair we're looking for here..."

And I do have to consider the best interests of my own Lord here...she noted with a pleasant smile...

"But you did say Walthrop has tasted her blood...He might transform, under the right circumstances..."

"Very iffy right now without Dru's active intervention...I'm afraid I would have to consult Lord D'Hoffryn on this..."

Farris raised a hand... "But, if the operative I mentioned was not my own...And not a complete stranger to Cicely...?"

Hmmn?...

"I've mentioned her father Sir Richard's interest here...And the lengths to which he might be willing to go..." he smiled...

"You'd expect Cicely's father to kill his own son-in-law...?"

"Hardly Sir Richard himself...But one of his own...If circumstances permitted...Without doubt..." Farris beamed...

And if Cicely's most loyal and committed friend...Were to uncover evidence to expose this sordid affair to her after Walthrop's death...And possible transformation...

Her own father?..." Haly's turn to ponder... Hmmn...That does smell like something involving despair and vengeance on a cosmic scale...

"Might I speak with my Lord a moment?...I'll get right back to you...It's an interesting idea but if we're to proceed it's just a bit too important for me to make the decision alone..."

By all means, my dear...a polite smile...

"But you will please stress the need to act quickly?...And my own uncertainty regarding Drusilla's current course of action..."

Drusilla...

PG-13...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page, ., or direct to story at

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night. But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

[The usual note to G&S fans...I've fiddled with dates a bit in this AU tale and moved the "Mikado" and the opening of the Savoy up a few years...]

Part XLII...

At the building where Cicely and her assistants...And ex-suitors...Jonathan Levinson, London barrister and Andrew Fowler, junior (as in allowed to do as little as possible) mercantile partner of Fowler and Fowler, Ltd...Along with their current and transitory vamp allies, Darla and the noble Angelus...Had uncovered a loathsome trade while engaged in their hunt for Drusilla and William...

A gruesome discovery which fortunately had also uncovered the first real clue as to Drusilla's whereabouts...

"I'm going to ask you one last time, sir..." Cicely spoke in cold fury to the portly, distinguished pillar of London's funereal trade, Mr. Fulton Abercrombie of Abercrombie and Sons...Where your departed loved one is treated with the respect they deserve...No matter what or how embarrassing the cause of death, we can make them look like angels in repose...

"Where did you get this piece?..." she waved the bit of costume jewelry they'd found with the pile of possessions looted from the poor corpse below...By scent and appearance, confirmed by Darla, a favorite of Drusilla's... "And more important, where is the body of the thing that wore it?..."

"Abercrombie, for God's sake..." his partner in crime, one Thaddaus MacNee, at his elbow...Barely reaching to it in fact...Hissed again...Imploring...

Angelus and Darla watching with some interest, just off to the side, under Jonathan's careful eye...Curious to see how the Slayer handles it...And hope...She having promised to leave the two humans to their tender care should the men's memories prove defective...

"By the way, sweetheart?..." Angelus asked quietly, whispering so as not to disturb the Slayer in her interrogation... "How did you?..."

"Don't be ridiculous..." Darla whispered back... "I hadn't the slightest idea...I only picked up the scent here by chance, just as I heard the others coming in after me, then I found those two below...I couldn't get out in time so I just made the most of the chance and told the Slayer I'd picked it up outside...Just thank the Master she felt something too...And there really was something of Dru's on them..."

Fortunate Providence...Angelus agreed within...

Clearly the Almighty has His plans for us...Perhaps our meeting with the Slayer was intended...Ordained...

Yes, very likely God Himself wants Angelus on His team...At least as one of His hired...At generous compensation one would hope, mercenaries...

And of course, Darla, mate of Angelus...he gallantly noted to himself...

"Ma'am...I've told you..." Abercrombie sighed... "It was on the young lady below...Well, on her, she wasn't wearing it...But it must've been hers or placed there by a loved one at the service this morning...The casket's been at her home since yesterday and I just picked her up there early today..."

A difficult thing to repress one's nature in the cause of Good...However, to protect one's mate, ensure one's survival...Provide one with a rather more comfortable lifestyle, courtesy the Council of Watchers, than that which he currently enjoyed...Yes, the noble Angelus could rise to the challenge and...

"How did she die?...Jonathan, can you go and check the body?..."

Darla took note of her gallant mate's preoccupation as he pondered the possibility of a major existence-style change...

Angelus, among Light's fighters...The world's first...Hmmn, first...Like the sound of that...Vampiral hero...

What have you got turning those little wheels in that dead brain?...she hissed...

(Why, you posturing little...Everyone knows great-granduncle Vlad was the world's first vamp hero...However shameful to the family that might be...Vladimir glared...Willie, as a friend of the family, long acquainted with the great Dracule clan's founder's tale of redemption, likewise glaring...

"Might I note, my friend..." the current head of the Dracule, vampiral, coldly interjected... "I believe my own ancestor..."

"Yes, yes...But my 'ancestor'..." Angelus smiled... "Was considering taking an active role on the other side of the fight...Not just to seek personal redemption and save a loved one from her horrible fate..."

Severe narrowing of eyes by the representative of the noble Dracule clan...

Just...?

"In fact personal redemption was rather a low priority on his list...")

"Fever, mum...Two days ago..." Abercrombie noted as Jonathan reached the stairs...Wait...He turned back to the mortician...

"Did you say she was brought in today?...By you?..."

"Aye, sir...Early this morning...And opened only for our work and the service...Eh, the casket, I mean..." he noted to Jonathan's and Andrew's slightly perturbed looks... "Look, miss..." Abercrombie turned back to Cicely... "I can check with my people and see if the thing was with the girl before..." Cicely ignoring him as she stared at Jonathan...The same thought occurring to them...

"Cicely?...She's at the funeral parlor...She must have been in the casket somehow with the girl, hiding in there..." Jonathan noted...She nodded, pulling "Dickens" back...

Playing a corpse to hide out at a funeral parlor...Now that's my girl...Angelus proudly thought...

"Sir, there was only one in there..." Abercrombie insisted, a bit shocked and somewhat put out...What did these people take him for? On the other hand, an interesting idea...Stuff 'em all in one...Say, an extra-large, as you pick 'em up...

Before you stage the burial, raise and unload the casket, sell the body and all items on it of value, and polish up the box for the next one...

Well it's not like we make meat pies out of 'em like that nutty barber over in Fleet Street...

"Where's your establishment?..." Levinson demanded of Abercrombie...

"Well, sir..." the respectable bringer of peace to the departed hesitated... "I don't want my place mixed up in any..." he paused as Cicely held "Dickens" to his ample throat...The point sinking in to slightly depress the flesh...

"3451 Kenware Road..." MacNee hastily called out, just beating Abercrombie's gasping out of the same...

"Andrew, get...No, wait..." Cicely paused... "You have a carriage?..." she eyed the two body-snatchers... "We've no time to waste trying find a cab..."

Well?...she raised "Dickens" to view...

"Out back, my hearse...Mr. MacNee has a wagon..." Abercrombie nodded...

"We'll take both...Andrew, Jonathan...You take the wagon with this gentleman..." she waved at MacNee...

"The rest of us will ride with you, sir..." she eyed Abercrombie...

By hearse...? Darla frowned...

Hmmn, always wanted to try one of those things...Angelus thought...

Office of D'Oyly Carte, Savoy Theater...Noon...

"I hope, Carte..." Arthur Rathskeller hesitated as he looked at the theater manager with a somewhat apologetic air...

Natural embarrassment given events, vampire hunteress Willow Rosenberg, seated beside him, out of her ball gown and back in her usual professional garb of black blouse, tweed skirt and jacket, spectacles, and, as a single concession to vanity, rather nicely arranged, firmly pinned, hat, noted to herself...At least one murder in the theater on the night of "the Mikado"'s dress rehearsal...Several killer vampires in attendance, at least one, the worst of the lot, still on the loose...The Chairman of the Council of Watchers couldn't help feeling a certain degree of undeserved responsibility...

"I hope you can still see your way to cooperating with us...At least until this creature is taken..."

"I hardly think we have a choice, Arthur..." Carte eyed him... "But I'm aware you and your people have been doing their best..."

Though it is unfortunate to have the police investigating a murder and disappearance the day we open a new work, he noted..."Pity it couldn't have happened during the last week of "Princess Ida"...Gilbert, I'm afraid is quite upset..."

"You haven't told..."

"Certainly not..." Carte shook his head... "Sir Arthur, having a more romantic imagination, can deal with such things tolerably well, but WS would denounce us as idiot lunatics to the world and then try to put a comic take on the events into his next piece..."

Kinda like ta see that...Willow couldn't help thinking...I mean I think I'd make a pretty interesting Gilbert and Sullivan heroine...

As would Cicely, sure...

"No, Gilbert only knows what we've told the police...But he's still quite upset...He'd rather taken to young Mr. Walthrop...And Evie Sinclair was one of the few people on staff who could get on his better side...Occasionally...And of course, there's the opening...He's quite on edge, though poor Lucy is doing what she can..."

He eyed the two...

"I suppose you are aware that despite what we told them regarding Miss Sinclair's killer, the police regard poor Walthrop's disappearance as somewhat suspicious...Only natural from their point of view..."

"We have people on the force...They'll do what they can to keep the poor boy from being falsely accused..." Rathskeller stated... "If necessary we have Angelus and could have him physically presented to them at the right time...Though we would have to stage his escape and a plausible death, they could never hold him for trial..."

"And Sir Arthur...?" Willow asked...

"As I indicated, I think he can accept such things as the supernatural a bit more easily...Though he is concerned for poor Mrs. Walthrop and her husband...As are we all...Any word on that score, Rathskeller?..."

"Cicely is still out hunting for the creature with her aides..."

Aides?...Those three?...Willow rolled her eyes slightly... "And the two creatures we took last night..." Ah, yes...Good job that...Carte smiled a bit at a reminder of the good news... "But as yet my people have no news to report, thought they are monitoring her group as best they can..."

"Mr. Farris?...Have he or his people reported in?..." Willow turned to Rathskeller...

"Simon's staff has also seen nothing of Drusilla as yet...And Cicely has not tried to reach him with a report..."

However, as to your opening tonight...Rathskeller turned to Carte...

"I trust you're not recommending we cancel?...Of course, we will if you think it best..."

"No, no...We'd like you to go ahead...I doubt there'll be any problems but if Drusilla has been considering a return here, keeping things normal here will probably be an inducement..."

"You want her to return?...Arthur, my dear fellow...With all due respect..."

"Only for her to try, D'Oyly...We'll stop her long before she gets in...But if she would try, we'd be in position..."

"What would bring her back now?...We've searched for Walthrop physically and magically without luck so far in here..." Willow asked...

"I'm still convinced she deposited him somewhere in the vicinity..." Rathskeller said quietly... "She couldn't have fled very far with him last night...As for concealing him from us, perhaps in supernatural ways...I've seen her kind do similar things in the past...It only confirms she has great abilities..."

"Does Cicely agree?...Why is she out hunting, in her condition, if..."

"It's best for her...If he's alive, he's not likely to be found by having one more to assist our further searching the building...She needs to be doing something proactive...And if she can find Drusilla by day...Far better odds for her in her current state than encountering her later..."

"But have you told her what you think, that he's still here?...Or about here..."

"No...Though I would expect she's reached a similar conclusion...At least that he's in the area..."

"Alive, I trust?..." Carte cut in, a bit anxious...Not another corpse waiting to be found on the premises tonight of all nights...

"There is no way to be certain...Until we find him..."

A thought formed in Willow's mind...One she repressed immediately...

If Walthrop were to be found now...Without Cicely about...The solution to the Council's Slayer problem could be quite simple...

No...He wouldn't...Not this gentle man...Why do I even let the thought...?

"Well, Rathskeller...What do you propose?..."

"Carte, I'd like to have my staff discreetly resume the search of the theater and the surroundings...We may not be able to trace Walthrop, but if he is hidden somewhere about, we might just possibly stumble into him...At the same time we'll prepare for the possibility of Drusilla's attempt to return to collect him..."

But he told me...He would be forced to make a choice, soon...That Humanity must have a Slayer...

"We can do it without interfering with your business, I'm sure..."

"Well, whatever must be done..." Carte shrugged... "You have our full support..."

They rose, Rathskeller shaking Carte's extended hand, Willow as well...

She silent as they entered the hall outside...

"Arthur..." she finally spoke... "What are you planning to do?..."

"Whatever we can...And must...Willow..." Allowing himself a faint smile on the "Willow"...

Of all times to use my first name in personal conversation...she sighed inwardly...

"Yes, but...Arthur?...Are we attempting to rescue Walthrop?...Or..."

She stared at the Chairman's now impassive face…

"Good heavens, what the devil are you two doing about here?..." W.S. Gilbert burst in upon them from another room, Carte's personal assistant at his elbow taking notes feverishly... "This isn't a train station, we are engaged in preparations for an opening..." he glared at the two idiots...

Silly people ought to be minding their own silly business in their own silly homes...he muttered, banging at Carte's door... "Ah, Gilbert..." Carte's voice in greeting...He rushed in, the rather harried-looking female assistant just barely rushing in as he slammed the door behind him...

Drusilla...

PG-13...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page, ., or direct to story at

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon,

Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire

Slayer series...

Summary: An alternate Cicelyverse tale...In 1880 Cicely Addams Walthrop

makes the right choice and saves her William on that fateful night.

But Drusilla is not so easily cheated of her Prince...

A companion story to "Groom of Rosenberg" for Halloween, at the request

of the Shes Who Must Be Obeyed...The musical touches are their idea...Sorry...they want a "Phantom-ish" story...

[The usual note to G&S fans...I've fiddled with dates a bit in this

AU tale and moved the "Mikado" and the opening of the Savoy up a

few years...]

Part XLIII...

"Stop here…Don't go inside…" Cicely insisted to Abercrombie who frowned but pulled up just outside the funeral parlor's carriage entrance…Angelus in the hearse proper back with a rather grim Darla…Nice way to spend a morning, riding to my likely grave in a miserable shoddy hearse driven by the Slayer and some grave-robbing human…When I ought to be enjoying the one pleasure afforded me in this miserable existence of a little daytime rest in a comfortable room somewhere…

"What a fascinating way to travel…" Angelus cheerily noted… "And far more comfortable than most coaches…"

Sings…( to the tune of "The Surrey with the Fringe on the Top…")As Darla stares…Angelus, one arm akimbo on hip…Other expansively raised…

"Ducks and geese and pigs, they all scurry…Instinctively humans run away in a hurry…They all fear to see what is the matter when our hearse….Goes by…" 

Spins round…Oh…

"Though the windows are wide, if the curtains are drawn, this ride's a genuine Heaven…

Yes, the coffin is deep and pillowed within and I'd say I sense leather…"

Darla…Shaking head… "Those human cheapskates…Never…Oh, whatever…" she throws up hands…

"What the devil's going on back there?..." Abercrombie looked at Cicely as he reined the horses in…She frowning, listening…

Not that the loss of a vampire's mind to abject fear was such a terrible thing…Still…Really do not need more problems right now…

Angelus, continuing with beam…

"Yes, this mode of travel is just what should speed him…When a vampire has to go in daylight where he's needed…Darling, lets get one when we finally flee here…

A charming little hearse with a fringe on the…"

"Oh, shut up!..." Darla growled…

The noble Angelus, easy adaptable to any situation…Always ready to ease others' burdens with a cheering word…

"Yes, a charming little hearse with a fringe…On the…Top…" contented sigh…

Darla rolling eyes…Then grabbing at his hand as he poked at a window curtain, curious… "In case you don't remember, it's daylight outside, you idiot?...And if those curtains round this thing move so much as an inch at the wrong point…"

Ah, yes…Nearly forgot my true nature, all this working on the side of Light and all…He thought…Pulling back hastily…

"Just pray Dru isn't in the place here or our usefulness to the Slayer may be over…" Darla eyed him…

"Oh, I should hardly think so…The Chairman of the Watchers Council and I have a solid agreement, Unman to Man…And even beyond the natural bond of an agreement between gentlemen…We're far too valuable to simply dispose of…" he insisted…As she stared at him…Shaking head…Moron…Why even bother…She turned away to try and find a spot where sun might not prevent a quick peek outside…

Well, at least one of us is…he thought, cheerily…Yes, an existence under Council protection and study…Blood freely provided…No more running about filthy sewers, skulking around the world, Unliving in fear…For my little family's sake of course…The Slayer herself consulting me on occult matters of grave…Excuse the pun…Import to the world…

The world's only vampiral hero…My…Rather like the sound of that…

(What?...Vladimir choked… "Dear friend…" he coldly eyed Angelus… "I must point out that my own ancestor…"

"A remarkable case in its way…" Angelus smiled, dismissively… "But never before had a vampire voluntarily offered, with no motive but his desire to assist Humanity…"

Desire to…? Vladimir raged inwardly…The little…

Still…He eyed Stoker making a few notes…Business before pleasure…Yes…

No reason, after we scatter the fool's ashes to the wind, we can't toss that into the mix of our own tale somehow…Perhaps a relative of the great Vlad assists the little humans in their quest?…A noble Prince of the blood, nobly overcoming the tug of Evil to atone for Granduncle's little faux pas in murder and mayhem?...Sure to get the more romantically inclined in any case…)

A slat between driver's front section and the hearse proper came down…Darla pulling back nervously at the few shafts of sunlight peeping in between curtain folds… "For God's sake, miss…A little warning before you do that, please?..." she hissed… "We've done all you asked, after all…"

"Be glad I didn't open the window curtains…" Cicely glared…She turned…

"Out…" Cicely urged Abercrombie…He reluctantly moved to the edge of the driver's seat… "Carefully…Don't disturb the curtains…" she pulled tight the curtain handle, keeping it from opening as Abercrombie fumed, squeezing his bulk out and down the driver's ladder to the drive below… "And unhitch those horses, now…!" she called…

She hollered over to the other vehicle… "Jonathan!...Don't let either of them run off…!"

"The sun is quite bright out now…" she'd turned back a fold of curtain to regard her otherworldly companions…Darla grimly pasting a cooperative smile while keeping well back…Angelus a rather sincere one…All going rather well, so far, eh, Slayer?...

"…You'd do well to avoid attempting any escape…Without horses and in this sun, you'd find it rather hard going…"

"We're at your service, Mrs. W…" Angelus beamed, waving hands expansively…Darla gritting teeth a bit…

Lord, that's my mate…The Slayer's singing…And if this keeps up, no doubt, dancing soon as well…Lap dog…

"Yeah…Sure…" she nodded stiffly… "Just let us know what we can do, Slayer…"

"Right now you can sit and wait…" Cicely noted… "Or cross me and die…"

There are limits, girl…Darla eyed her…

And the raging, bright sunlight glowing at the front through the curtain folds of the driver's entry…

Hmmn…Perhaps I could yet defer my revenge a bit…

"If you wouldn't mind closing that curtain when you leave, ma'am…And perhaps resecuring that opening…?" Angelus politely asked…

Hard slam of the wood slat back on the driver's entry, pull of curtain…Sound of feet clambering down…Faint sound of Abercombie outside in the driveway offering some new protest…

"Nice girl, really…One must make allowances under present circumstances, naturally…" Angelus noted, contentedly…Removing his coat, unbuttoning waistcoat, and leaning back in the empty coffin which had once held the corpse violated by the two grave robbers… "Wake me if the Slayer calls for me, would you, dearest?...May as well catch a few winks while there's a chance…"

"Get outta of there, you stupid dolt!..." she raged…

While Cicely rode herd over Abercrombie as he unhitched and led the horses to the funeral parlor's stable…Jonathan and Andrew had brought the somewhat more complaint MacNee along into the main room of the funeral emporium…Andrew looking about, a bit perturbed…

"Hallo?...Any one to home?..." he called…No answer…

"I say Levinson, you don't suppose our Miss Drusilla is lying about in one of those…" he pointed to the various coffins placed about the room, on display…

"Lyin' in one…?" MacNee blinked…The worn black silk hat on his head…Bit of respect for the clientele…Bobbing jerkily…

Hmmn…Jonathan stared round…Drawing stake…Fowler doing so as well as MacNee stared…

"Perhaps, gents…I could go and see…" he began…Rather urgently…

"Stay here, sir…" Jonathan frowned…Looking round again…

Not a sound…Still as the…Hmmn…Right…Well…

"Can't hurt to look though I doubt she'd be so…" Jonathan gulped, hastily lifting a lid, stake at the ready… Phew…Empty…Andrew doing the same at a second…Hallo?...Miss Drusilla?...

Nothing…

"Careful there, Jonathan…" Cicely had entered, pushing a grumbling Abercrombie along…

"Indeed you should be…" Abercrombie glared… "That's expensive goods and private property, you be handling…"

"Not as private as the property you were 'handling', sir…" Cicely, coldly…"Where is your staff?...Do they go for dinner at this hour?..."

"They bloody well damned better not have…" Abercrombie frowned…"Beggin' yer pardon, miss…"

"What about the…Thing…In the hearse?..." MacNee spoke up… "Is she safe?..."

"Perfectly…And if you don't cooperate, you'll join her…" Cicely eyed him…

"I'm cooperatin', Miss…Abercrombie, tell the young lady I'm cooperatin'…You, sir?..." Mac Nee looked to Jonathan…

"He's been no trouble so far…" Jonathan agreed…

"Maintain that sterling record, sir…And I might forget…This one time..What I saw…Subject to your being monitored by the authorities from now on, of course…" Cicely told MacNee…Moving to a large coffin which she opened…

Damn…Nothing…

Andrew carefully opening his third yet…They do say third time's the…Hmmn…Not a thing…

"Are you police, miss…?" MacNee stared…Finally seeing the young lady clearly for the first time in her rather crumpled if elegant day suit…Definitely a lady of quality by the goods and well-kept hair…Though perhaps out a bit too long…The gents likewise clearly not the run-of-the-mill sort…

"Crown agents…" Jonathan, thinking quick…Cicely, slight smile to him…Quick-thinking, beloved friend and back-up suitor…

"Crown agents?...You?..." Abercrombie, incredulously… "MacNee, don't be a fool…"

"Abercrombie…You saw that Thing in the hearse back at my place…" MacNee pointed to the door… "If the lady can master that and says she's Crown…She's Crown, in my book…"

"Enough!...We are whatever we tell you we are, unless you'd care to be dining partners for that couple outside…Would your people be in the back?..." Cicely eyed Abercrombie…Who glared back a moment but quickly found himself a bit unnerved by her harsh stare…Coming down to a calm place with unusual speed for a man used to tyrannizing over all in his path…

"Most likely…Unless they're all looking to be fired or caned…" he frowned…

"Jonathan…Andrew…By me…" Cicely called them over… "She may have them under her control…"

"Do you…?" Jonathan began…She shook her head… "I don't sense her…Not yet…But she is full of deceptions…You…" she pointed to Abercrombie… "Lets go back there…Call your people and stay close by me if you don't wish to become an article for sale by one of your equally vile competitors…You, too, sir…" she eyed MacNee who'd chosen to ponder if the lady's failure to address might mean leave to go…

She staggered suddenly as Abercrombie, now rather perturbed by the idea of leading the way, moved cautiously to the door… "Sidney?..." he called… "Raymond!...Abby!...Leo, you clumsy lout!...Where've you all got to…?" Jonathan hurrying to her…Andrew as well…

"Cicely…" Jonathan took her arm…Andrew by her opposite, stake arm… "Take care, Cicely…"

"I'm…" she began…Then wanly smiled to each of her friends… "That's ludicrous, eh?...No…I'm not fine…But I can't stop until…" she straightened…

"We know…" Jonathan nodded… "But it will do Will no good if you're dead…"

"Indeed not…" Andrew agreed… "Nor us lot…Who love you too…"

"So far as all things allow in the right sort and all…" he noted, smiling…

"You two are too good for me…" she sighed…Patting Andrew's arm… "But don't fear…"

"I won't die…Not until I know, at least…" she tensed… "Come on, then…" she moved to the half-opened door where Abercrombie was nervously peering in…

All this death talk a bit disturbing even to a man in the trade…

"Like this, sir…" she pushed the door open wide with her stake…MacNee, Jonathan moving behind him to block any attempt to flee, gulping a bit…

"Might I have one of them crosses, sir?..." he asked…Pointing to Jonathan's…

Rooms of Simon Farris…

"Doctor?..."

Farris frowned at the sudden intrusion…Putting down the orb he'd been handling, preparatory to summoning Halfreck for a report…

Damn...These young fools…Never around to die when they're wanted, always underfoot else…

"Mr. Foxcroft…" he stepped into what passed in his sparse apartment for a parlor…

"Sir…" Henry…Still a bit drawn from his adventure of the previous few evenings ago… "I've come hoping…"

"Yes, yes…" Farris nodded… "And I've got my people out looking for her as well as him and the creature...No sign as yet…"

"I've come from the Chairman…Likewise…Sir, we must do something…She's dangerously weak now…It's insanity for her to continue like this…"

Excellent…Farris pasted a look of deep concern… "Young man…There's little you or I can do to stop Cicely Add…Excuse me, Walthrop…I have tried…Perhaps it's best if we give her her head and let her exhaust herself, under monitoring, of course…At least she can feel she is acting, not merely awaiting events.."

"We can't simply leave her alone out there…With those two…Creatures…And Drusilla likely in wait…Even with Jonathan and Andrew in support…"

Even with…? Farris stared…

Support?...He desperately repressed a chuckle…

"No…" he nodded gravely… "We can't allow her to continue like this…Which is why, I've ordered my people to bring her in as soon as they feel they can do it safely…Regardless of what she threatens…"

Henry rubbed his forehead…

"She'll never allow that…"

"They won't make it a request, I assure you…" Farris eyed him… "She will be angry with me but that's of no import now…"

"Thank you…" Henry sighed… "Surely, though, we can do more…More toward finding Walthrop…What about your demon?..."

"Miss Halfreck?..." Simon blinked…

Hardly thought you'd remember, boy…He thought…

Still…

"In fact…Henry…I'd thought of the same thing myself…And was about to try and summon her…But Foxcroft…" he was solemn… "We should be cautious in dealing with her…After recent events, I suspect she may be using us for her own ends, whatever those may be…More than likely involving a plot on her superior's part to ensnare Cicely's soul…I believe I can deal with her, but one can never be too careful with such beings…"

"If we could just use her to protect Cics…" Henry tried… "Or better yet, find Walthrop and Drusilla…"

"A worthy plan…But lets not underestimate our Cicely…" Farris smiled… "Incredible as it sounds that we could…She has survived worse…"

"But never the death of her child…" Henry sighed…

"Yes…" Farris nodded carefully…"That is true…" A sincere cloud of…Despair?...Guilt?...Desolation?...He himself could not say…passing across his face…

And even I…Even I…Can barely…He thought…

But I have set my course and will follow it to the bitter end…For her and me…

"Let me see if the creature can again be summoned…But caution, Foxcroft…" he warned… "We are meddling in very deep waters…And the last thing we should wish is to endanger Cicely's soul with such efforts…"

Should, I note…He thought…

Though it appeared several of the staff had gone missing, Abercrombie was relieved to find his lumpen dolts of sons still on the job, more or less…Or, given their still, slack faces and general lack of response as they stood in the dark of the preparation room…Along with young Robert the messenger boy…Still on the premises might be the better depiction…

Yet even less of use than usual…Neither Leo or Raymond or even the boy…Who usually had the good sense to respond to the master's threats…Showing any willingness to respond to Abercrombie's shouted demands for information…Cicely, Andrew, and Jonathan now reaching the group, MacNee unwillingly following but terrified to remain alone in the empty main parlor…All four eyeing the three young men standing blankly to Abercrombie's continuing rants…

Jonathan turned on the gas at Cicely's request…No response from the three slack-jawed figures…

Thrall or…Cicely noted to Jonathan… "Sir, there are how many others?..." she called to Abercrombie…

"Sid and Abby …The junior mortician and the lass who does the do on the clients…" MacNee helpfully cut in…Eyeing the three…

Not that young Leo and Raymond are exactly what one might refer to as, lively…They do seem a bit…He gulped again…Stiff…As does young Bob…Who generally has a bit more of the spark as a rule…

"Fellows…" Andrew addressed the three… "I say, Levinson…They seem a bit…"

"A bit…" Jonathan nodded…

"You stupid imbecilic louts!..." the frustrated Abercrombie now attempted to reassert authority in his normal manner, shaking his fist at the dull face of his son Raymond… "Tell the lady where…!" He fell back in horror as the boy took demon face and lunged for him, fangs out…Cicely rushing to intercept…As the messenger boy lunged as well…Though minus any demonic aspect…

"Oh, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…" MacNee stared, crossing himself, dropping back as well as a cloud of dust began settling…Cicely grabbing the boy who struggled in her grip...Jonathan moving to recover "Dickens" from the floor and return the stake to her…

"No, the other…!" Cicely called as Andrew moved to help her with Robert… "I've got him…" she forced the struggling boy down on knees…Holding him firmly…

Dear God…Abercrombie, staring…

The other boy, Leo remaining dully staring…Jonathan and Andrew, confronting, crosses out now…Levinson's firmly extended, Fowler's a bit more tentative…Seems an odd way to deal with such things…Rather like joining the Salvation Army…Jonathan's stake ready…

Besides, shouldn't Levinson be using the other one?...

Not wishing to insinuate anything negative, whatever Tucker might have said about him the other evening at dinner…Capital old fellow, our Johnny…

"Alright…He's still human…And the other…" Cicely noted, eyeing Leo, while holding the quieting Robert carefully…

Well, human after a fact at least…She shook her head at the large hulking boy…

"Human?..." MacNee croaked… "What'd'ye mean, still human?..."

"Lord preserve us…" Abercrombie gasped… "What happened to me boy?..."

"I'm sorry…Drusilla must have transformed him…" Cicely kept her attention on Leo who returned her stare blankly but perhaps with a bit more attention than usual for him…

She sighed…Glancing at Jonathan… "Sorry…I should have sensed him…I…" she brushed it off and turned back to Leo…

"Now…Where is Drusilla, boy?..." she asked… "You can tell me…Has she left?..."

"Not supposed to say, ma'am…" he shook his head slowly… "The Lady said I was not to tell…"

"You, boy…" she swung round and pulled Robert's head up to face his blank eyes… "Who told you to attack me?...Was it Drusilla…?"

"Cicely…Andrew and I will check the main parlor again…" Jonathan suggested…

"No, stay…" she insisted… "If she is still about she'll be looking for a chance to take anyone close to me…Sir…" she addressed the bewildered Abercrombie… "What is the boy's name…?" she indicated Leo… "Jonathan, Andrew, take this one…Don't let him run…" she carefully released her grip on the boy as Jonathan and Andrew moved to grab him…He remaining quiet now…

"Name?..." Abercrombie blinked… "Leo, Miss…" MacNee perked up, somewhat adapted to the new situation as befitting a man who had, for necessity of life of course, at times descended to what might be considered by some as unsavory occupations…

"Yes…Leo…" Abercrombie agreed, still dazed…He focused sight at the settled pile of ashes…

"Leo…" Cicely, kindly, stepping close, staring at him with a smile… "You don't have to tell where she went, just if she went…You can do that without making your Lady angry, right?..."

"Don't know, Miss…The Lady said…" Leo, hesitant…

"Where are the others?..." Abercrombie asked… "Leo…" he looked at the boy… "Where'd the rest get off to…" he gulped… "Are they…Like Ray?..."

MacNee solemnly preparing to whisk hat off…In remembrance of dearly departed…With some sincerity, given old associations with the said…

"Quiet, sir…" Cicely hissed, waving Abercrombie off… "Leo, did Drusilla leave this place?...Tell me…"

"The Lady said…" Leo began…

"What Lady?...Leo…Who did this to Ray?...Speak up, boy…" Abercrombie, recovering a bit…Somewhat resentful eye to Cicely as she again glared him back…

"Jonathan, watch them…" she called, turning away toward the entrance to the main parlor…

"Cicely?..." Jonathan stared…

"Just a moment…" she hurried through the door…

"Should I be off with her?...Eye out?..." Andrew asked…Jonathan nodding… "Keep close by her, Andrew…And watch yourself…" Fowler nodding as he hurried out to the parlor…

"Here…" Abercrombie, relieved at the intimidating Cicely's departure… "I want an explanation…What did you people do to my son?..."

"Nothing except give him peace…Drusilla killed him, sir…Now just be quiet a moment…She may yet be around…"

"Drusilla?...Who the bloody hell is…?"

Darla entered, cloth from the casket in the hearse draped about her head and shoulders…Cicely at her back, stake out…Fowler just behind…

"All right…The boy there first…" Cicely pointed with stake to the blank-faced Leo watching them in return with vacant look…

"Is that the…?" Abercrombie looked to Jonathan, still holding the other boy, shaking his head…No…MacNee hastily falling back…

Lord, preserve a poor man from the Beast…He averted his eyes nervously…Darla, sensing…Tossing a faint smile his way…

"But she is one of her kind…"

"Hello there…" Darla addressed Leo… "The Slayer here has asked me to ask you to tell her where Dru went just now…And you are going to tell me, aren't you?..." she stared at the boy…

God, talk about having to use the dregs…Poor Dru must have been desperate…

"The Lady said…"

"Nevermind what the Lady said…" Darla, impatiently… "You are going to tell me…"

"You're pretty, too…" Leo nodded…

"Not all day about it…" Cicely hissed…

"Slayer…Either let me bite him or let me go about this my way…" Darla returned, harsh whisper…Cicely waving her to continue, stepping back…Darla moving closer to Leo…

"Cicely?..." Jonathan whispered… "Do you know what you're…?" Cicely frowning him quiet…He eyed Andrew nervously… 

"Leo…You think I'm pretty as your Lady, don't you?..." Darla, warm smile…

"You're pretty, Miss…"

"That's right…And if you tell me, this pretty lady will give you a kiss…Do you want a kiss, Leo?..."

"What's she doing?...Miss, I tell you, I'm ready to go for the nearest…"

"Abercrombie, don't be a fool…" MacNee cautioned him…

Cicely whirling on Abercrombie… "You go right ahead, sir!…You can explain your trade at the same time…" Abercrombie falling silent…

"Please do be quiet…" Darla hissed…Another gentle smile to Leo… "Leo…I'm much like your Lady, aren't I?…And all I want is for you to tell me where she and your friends have gone off to…" she came close, reaching to touch his face… "You want to be friends with me, don't you?..." she leaned to him, kissing his cheek…

"Just tell me, Leo…Whisper if you like…Where…" she turned her ear to near his lips…Hand on his shoulder…

"Gone for the ship, Miss…For some place…" he whispered into the ear…

"Ship, Leo…Where…?" she asked…

"Jonathan…" Cicely turned to him… "See if there's a copy of the Times about…Try our friend in the hearse if not…"

"There's several in the parlor…" he hurried out and returned a moment later…

She took the folded newspaper from his outstretched hand and began thumbing through… Ship times…It must be leaving soon…Ah…

With a sudden burst of desperation, Robert the messenger boy broke from Jonathan's grip as Cicely focused on the paper…All but she and Darla hurrying to catch him…

"Robert, you worthless little!..." Abercrombie called…

"Cicely?..." Jonathan called to her from the parlor… "He's made off!...Andrew's trying to follow him…!"

"Nice…" Darla noted… "But shouldn't we be off after the boy, even if you wanted him to get free to join Dru?..." she smiled coolly at Cicely who put up a hand…

"Soon as I have a sure idea where he might be heading…" Cicely shook her head, glancing briefly at Darla with equal coolness…

(end of Book I more coming)

(More Coming)


End file.
